[Hand-bound with thread, and with a few pages attached by straight pins]
By Rev. J. G. Condit
South Hadley,
Mass.
Address before the Society
of Inquiry at Amherst College
Nov. 14th 1843.
Made as we are - placed where we are - & destined as we are, 'tis a great & fearful thing to live. If the question were only, what we shall be to ourselves - what character, we shall take, what destination we shall reach, it were a momentous thing to live. - But man lives not as one. He does not act alone. He interlocks himself with other men, & makes himself felt in the vital elements of their character & destinly. - 'Tis impossible to live, move, be seen & not be felt. For is in the intercourse of life eye meets eye, & mind meets mind, impression is left. And every time that meeting is had, touch after touch is given. Line after line is made on an image drawn for Eternity.
When the end shall come & we shall see our influence revealed in its great results, then shall we know as we do not now that 'tis a fearful thing to live. - But we know enough now, to make it a thrilling inquiry "How we shall live, what we shall do, what image [...] on other minds - what monuments rear for the inscriptions of our own immortality.["]
These remarks indicate that I am committed for this occasion, not to speculations or discussions, that might interest for the present, more than profit in the future. - I am here with a practical aim. - I could come with no other. And if only one mind inquires how the most can be done in this life's term, & that mind's inquiry should be met in the suggestions of this evening, my effort will not be lost.
The field opened is large. I intend however to occupy the time not so much in enumerating specific things to be done, as in some leading views to show what is essential to the accomplishment of all we can in one generation.
Obviously, the kind of principle we adopt is a primary thing in the case.
For principles make men. Character takes its shape from the controlling aim that is set up. We see that governed by one principle man shines an example of goodness & pours blessings on his race.
But governed by another principle he lives to benefit no-body & only to wither & blast all that feels his touch. This it was not one set of views & aims made our Washington the Father of his country, while another set of views & aims made Napolean the Giant Destroyer of nations. - so one master-principle in the mind of Howard laid his property at the feet of bleeding humanity & sent him all over Europe on visits of mercy to its wretched prison-hours. - While another master-passion firing the mind of Pizarro, led him on with heart of steel, through blood of slaughtered millions. - What a man is to the world depends thus on the principle he adopts.
You can have (as you see) principles of power, principles that will nerve your mind to bold & daring achievement, principles that will turn your life to a great account too, but it will be a dreadful account. - Moreover there are principles of some relative value which still do not lead to the full end of our being. There are men who under certain views, so direct their energies as to make society & the world in a sense better for their influence. And this is well, so far as it goes. But more is called for. -
What then is, & where is, that we want - said Jeremiah Erarts [?] once, "There is nothing like living to be a Benefactor of minds" - There is the principle we need in that noble sentiment, as it flowed from the heart of that now sainted man. - 'Tis living to bless. 'Tis indeed to be a benefactor minds on their way to immortality.
It was the reigning spirit of the man Christ & made his whole life, an act of self immolation. It was in Paul too & made him compare sea & land to be a Benefactor of souls. -
It was in the great reformers of the 16th century who rolled off that thick moral cloud from the nations. -
It was in Matthew Cary when in 1786 he resolved to go & spend his life in India - It was in Willerforce & Clarkson when they raised their pleading voice for the enslaved millions of British rule. - It was in Martyn & Mills, & Fiske & Parsons when they purposed to make their best influence felt on the other side of the globe. - It was in every man who with the gospel in his heart, seeks in a gospel-form to redeem & elevate an apostate people.
- Next to the adoption of right principle the particular field of our action, demands a notice.
The remark sometimes made "that it matters little where a man is, if he has but the spirit of his work," may have some truth in it. And yet Professions, spheres or places of action are not equal in promise of usefulness - Nor is any one man fitted alike for all the various positions of life.
Hence it is a question of moment. What sphere we shall fill? - A serious hour it is when a man is deciding where to stand on the great theatre of life. Immense & far-reaching results are wrapped up in the decisions of that hour.
The question touching the place we shall occupy, or the channel through which our influence shall go forth is not always easily settled. Even when one is honestly asking where his powers can be turned to the most account, there is often practical difficulty about it. I do not propose to go through this point in its details. But some notice, of it is required by my subject.
In regard to a position in life, there are three things I lay down as true.
I. A man's own mind must act definitely & independently in selecting this field. -
This is perhaps too obvious for a remark. And yet it would seem as if some men did take their place without that thought & action of their own which the case demands. It would appear as if many had taken prominent spheres, more from the opinions or calculations of others, than from their own enlightened convictions. -
And to this is doubtless to be attributed, the ineffective lives of not a few. - I object not to the consultation of others opinions[.] They are to be taken & used, in preparing the way for a decision. - But I hold it true that no mind will act effectively in any sphere if that mind has not acted for itself in selecting that sphere. For it is not enough that the position fixed upon is one in which good can be done - it must be one which good can be done by us. We cannot enter a field relying on something professional or official or local, to give power & usefullness to what we do. There must be a fitness of the man to the place. - This fitness he himself must apprehend, & take the field as the result of his own intelligent independent actings. The thing should be done in the stillness of that lone & solemn hour, when the mind in sight of its accountable relations has paused for a decision that is to affect its own and others immortal destinies.
II. In selecting our position the prospect of usefulness is of course to furnish the predominating motive.
This would indeed follow from the principle before commanded as the true spring of action. But we are exposed to inprior considerations we are liable to be swayed by influences that mar the character & circumscribe our usefulness.
Now the departments of action differ in the demand they make upon a self mortifying spirit, some positions furnish strong temptation to pride ambition of love of ease. Some situations have few difficulties & trials comparatively. The elements about them are settled, and the man has only to throw himself into a system already established & work in it with little to harass or retard. But in regard to other fields, all is unsettled. The foundations are to be laid. The conflict of opinions is to be met. And the man has got to toil mid ruffled currents & blocked up channels.
Now if a man holding himself to be a servant of Christ, adopts a profession, because of some external attraction it has, if he goes into a particular field because of something that may give it a glory in the world's eye - or if he takes a position, because in it he can more consult his case, why just so far as such considerations prevail, he is recreant to his own principles & false to his master.
In giving himself to the true end of life, a man gives himself not to men -- not to places or to things circumstantially viewed - But to his one work. The question for him is not, where the most case will be, or where the most popularity will be. And in deciding on his general department, or sphere, he may not wait to know whether he can have his place in some populous or refined city, - or whether he may have to go & set up his banner in some dark & dreary spot of earth. I do not say that trials & difficulties are to be courted, and yet they are not to be shunned, if duty is there. For they may be needed to prove our character, to show our weakness. I link us in deeper sympathy with our Master's cross. Ineed it seems to me that a man is not fitted for the choice of his position unless he has been much at the cross & is himself "crucified with Christ." When his pre-dominating spirit will lead him safely not where the lights of Providence are, then will he give himself to his work, not because he hopes to have a home, in the already cultured fields of Zion & not shrinking from it, because his house may be in the deep, moral wilderness - such a man will make a life all it can be.
III. It is a thing not of slight importance in my view, that a field of action be selected with a view to permanency.
I speak of course of what is a general principle. Exceptions partial at least there may be. Evidently however a man needs the settlement of his choices & his prospects too so far as the case admits in order to give effectiveness to what he does. The wavering, unfixed mind, is incapable of toils that shall be efficient & accumulative in their results. Many a man by the mere restlessness & unstableness of this spirit has put a perfect bar to his usefulness. - Here what he says.
"This surely is not my place. I am not fitted for this sphere. Did I but fill another position. I could turn myself to a great account, there I could wield a mighty influence, there I could touch cords whose librations would reach far." -
Now such a man is in no frame to act effectively. For to develop the mind's whole strength & accomplish all in its reach, it must have opportunity to form its habits, & beat its own track, so under proper appliances it shall grow in power to produce its proper effects. And as a general fact, this can be secured only by a continuous effort in the same line.
I should remark however, this settlement of the mind in one sphere of effort, does not suppose there are to be no changes in our relations to the great moral field - For sometimes changes are of incidental advantage. Thier impulsive influence starting the mind on a somewhat varied track may increase its rigor & magnify its results. But for this very increase of rigorous exertion the man is essentially indebted to habits previously formed in a settled train of action. And this makes it evident that there is no danger from this principle of permanency in one position, as if it would disqualify a man for another, should Providence call him to it. For the man who has devoted himself as for life to one department & succeeded, is the very man who if called to change will succeed in another. The same diligence & devotion will under God ensure him success. - And without that self devotion, without that holding of himself dow to his present work as if it were the only work he had to do, he will not be very useful any where.
I need hardly say that we have fallen on times of change. -There is a great deal to direct our eyes & hearts from a straightforward continuous devotion to our one vocation. Probably more than one Profession has suffered from a lack of fixedness & permanency in pursuit. It is not without pain that I express more than my apprehension that from this source the minister may have lost in its efficiency. And most earnestly do I hope that our beloved missionary cause may not suffer in the same way. Certain I am that if the power of the ministry is magnified as it ought to be, it will be by a oneness & continuousness of individual devotion to it. And not the Pulpit singly - but the Mission - department of the field also needs men who will enter on their work as a life-work, men who when they hear the cry of Macedon & go on plain or strand or fleecy mount to stand for Christ will cheerfully stand there till their Master call them home to their reward above.
Passing now to another point in my general subject, I observe.
To make the best of life in accomplishing all we can - respect is to be had to the period of time we live in.
Much is said of the distinctive features of our age. Not a little of vain-glorying there may have been in many things written or said about the day we live in. The subject however claims regard - And something on this topic belongs to the object before me - Different sections of times are differently characterized. The difference may be in the church, in governments - in literature in the leading tendencies of mind - in the general state of society.
All "understanding of the times" then may be of service in shaping the plans & directing the energies of Christian Philanthropy - As to our generation, I have one or two things to say by way of caution.
In giving respect to the age I see no reason so to magnify it as to beget the feeling that all of a former age is valueless.
For my own past, I have no sympathy with the feeling that nothing of wisdom or rightness has come down to us from previous generations[.] I believe there has. I have felt willing to own a debt to the past. Hence I have never thought I should accomplish the most by helping to roll society back to its primeval elements, & lay new foundations for every thing - For I have supposed there was something wise & right in things which have come as a heritage from our Fathers, & have been willing to help perpetuate it.
For be it from me nevertheless to advocate a blind adherence to transmitted things, because they were the creed or the habits of a former age. Yet while nothing is to be received because transmitted from other days, so nothing should be rejected for that reason.
In giving respect the the age Again, It may require care not to justify somethings which are undesirable or wrong, becauase they belong to the times. For example If the elements about us are restless impulive, unsteady, as if the foundations were breaking up, we may not simply ascribe it to the spirit of the age, & then forget it. For the fact may have something to do with the form of our effort for the good of the past & the future.
And if the demand be strong in society or church men for a popular & religious literature which is unsubstantial & enervating, we may not just pass it over to the taste of the times & think ourselves innocent in patronizing a Press that yields no aliment [sic] for the mind or heart.
And if public taste call on the Pulpit for a mode & style shall charm listening ears, while it feeds not famishing souls, the ministry may not conform & sacrifice itself, because it is the reigning spirit.
And so in reference to other things It may be easy to go in the current, but not always safe. There is no sanctifying power in the spirit of the times. Nobody believes there is. And yet when the leading tendencies of thigns are wrong, it takes no little effort to save the church from such a bias of judgment & conscience as shall misdirect her energies & blight her influence.
But while I speak thus cautionary on one side, I should add on the other to developments new simply because they are so. - For something of this is to be expected. The world is not stationary. Society as a general fact is progressive. Especially may we expect mind under the action of the Gospel to progress. And this progress will skew one generation in advance of a former in some points of faith & morals. It is in this way that some great evils have already been corrected & others will be.
If in the just application of the Gospel the traffic in human flesh, is now the verdict of the world, a ruthless invasion of human rights, a daring violation of Heaven's law. And if under the same influence, the common traffic in ardent spirit is now seen to be a sacrifice of a plain principle of Christian morals, then may the world expect other & similar developments, expect them not to be alarmed because they are new but to welcome them as the legitimate result of the Gospel - yea to hail them as harbingers of a brighter day, of more glorious things, even the redemption of the whole earth. For the gospel by its progressive & reforming action may be expected to develop & remove evils & errors not now seen as such. It will go on arresting other forms of wicked traffick, breaking all the bands of slavery, staying the tumults & carnage of war, banishing false religions & all anti-christian powers, & so [...]ing the earth with its light & peace.
But I should not leave this topic without something more directly positive. I remark then If a man would make the best of his life at this day, he must be understandingly & firmly based in the truth.
This he needs for himself. His own mind to act effectively, must be settled in the great principles by which the world is to be regenerated. And this must be the result of his own independent conviction.
A man cannot now throw himself into the systems & frameworks of other days, & then have a bulwark against the assaults of adversaries. For systems, frameworks, every thing at the time is subject to the exactest scrutiny. If a man does not understand the foundations of his faith, however good his faith may be, he is not fitted for toils & conflicts that await him. He must know not only what is true, but why it is true, or he is not arrayed for his work. He must know things for himself, or else mid the fluctuations, speculation & infidelity about him he willl waver, stumble & fall. If any have experiences like my own they have felt the necessity of separation from human & a supreme reliance on divine authority. For drawn off as we are by the leadings of the age, into a sea of new inquiry, & hazardous speculations, it is good, yea necessary to take firmer hold of the settled, unchanging principles of eternal truth. Such a hold of truth, just as revealed a man must get, yes truth seen, realized must be the forming element of his faith. It must be the bulwark of his mind, the rock of his hope, the armor of his warfare. If he is thus fortified, he may stand mid conflicting opinions. If skilled in the truth & valiant for it, he may do much to rectify & elevate and save.
And here I might expland a thought before hinted at, that in the execution of our work the Gospel is to be relied on as the Great Agent in accomplishing [...].
And if some tendencies of the times are the contrary to this, then the value of the remark is only the more manifest. Certain it is that the Gospel is God's own appointed scheme for putting an end to the crimes & woes of men. And we cannot be wiser than God. I do not mean that the Gospel has no auxiliaries - no subordinate agencies. For it has. But these are to be valued chiefly as they take their direction from the Gospel. Whatever appliances there may be that shall operate as temporary remedies for evil, the permanently correcting & reforming influence for a deposed world, is in the religion of Christ. And there is no evil which the Gospel does not see & condemn, & which it has not power to remove when justly applied. And to secure its just application is instrumentally the work of Christ's Church. In reference to the mode of this application I know this is a day for assocation in benevolent doing. And no doubt this form of effort has its place. Yet I suppose if the church will limit her associations to such as have the Gospel, this element & are designed to carry out its principles simply the number needed will be few. They, in their time & place will accomplish an important office.
Moreover the Gospel as a remedy for crime & love is not only the surest in the results, but the safest in its mode of approach & operation. I do not indeed think that Christianity is to effect the worl's reformation without some disturbances & revolutions seen. For great obstacles are to be met. Strong holds of the enemy are to be taken. some reigning evils are interwoven with established organizations of the social state. Still, we must believe God's method of reforming & redeeming humanity, is the best. And as Christianity shall go on to make governments & laws & society & individuals what they ought to be, it will indeed effect changes, yet not undesired changes if they be the legitimate action of Christian principles. - For I repeat there is no healthier or surer agent of reform than the Gospel. And if I mistake not this period of ours demands that this divine agency be magnified. If a man means to serve this generation well he must adhere to this scheme of heavenly origin, then will he be saved from the errors of human schemes, then will his weapons be mighty.
So if changes & resolutions occur in his progress yet sanctified & christian by truth & love they will be for a blessing.
III. This period of ours demands of us intense devotion to the work of life.
This is intenseness of emotion & action all about us. In the words of Harris, "the public mind quivers with impulses & thrills with excitement."
Yes it has seemed as if the deepest fountains of thought & emotion were broken up. Mind has put itself, in a form of bold, energetic, enterprizing, adventurous effort. All classes here felt the impulse. The result is as was to be expected, that the wrong tendencies of our nature are strongly developed. Never the prominence of error, the diversities of opinion, the ragings of controversy, the tumults of party, the bolder front of vice, the louder voice of infidelity, & the higher pretensions of Atheism.
In this light who does not see the high demand which is made on christian character, & effort - surely a strong intense devotion is called for. Not untaught zeal not a blind consecration not a vaporous changeful piety, but a spirit nurtured on the truth, a piety cultured in the closet, drawing its life & power from the cross. Such character and devotion is needed in the church, to reach & act on a busy, stirring agitated world. If ever was needed a strong, spiritual believing, humble-acting piety, it is now. Without this, a man will make but a small impression. Without this, sin & error will hold the field, & march onward with a growing triumph.
But there is another view, which bears on my object.
To accomplish all we can requires attention to times & occasions when much may be done for the future.
- "There are tides in the affairs of men," - which men of business, & of ambition, will understand & aim to influence. The pursuer of wealth knows how to use a favored time [...] by a simple contract he may add hundreds or thousands to his treasures. Many an aspirant of power & fame, by taking advantage of some favoring events, has made himself leader in the revolutions of empires.
We do understand there is often a juncture of moral things which if improved may produce mighty effects. There are occasions which [...] wondrous [...] on the future.
There are states of individual mind when a single word may decide the track of thought & feeling that mind shall take forever.
There are conditions of society & a nation when a well-directed influence for a short time, may turn the scale of destiny for that society or nation through all its existence.
If then we are wise to use life to the best purpose, we shall look out for those occasions when so much can be done in a little time, we shall watch for those deciding points, on which are hung vast & far-reaching consequences.
I have not time for all the illustration there that might be given.
Yet the fact may well be noticed & pondered, that the position of present things is pregnant with great results. As mind is now so quickened & impulsive it is therefore the more impossible, slight touches now shall cut deeply. Images now enstamped shall never fade.
Look at our own nation. See how its elements are shaping & preparing for impact. It cannot be told what the nation will be. But it is fast putting on its great character, & fitting for its great destiny.
Look more widely. There is peculiar impressibility on almost universal mind. Whole nations are waking from slumber. Foundations laid in darkness are breaking up, systems of false religion that have stood lng are crumbling down, & even heathen mind widely is opening to receive the impres of new & controlling influences.
In evidence of this I might ask you to go & take observation from some of our Mission-Posts. We cannot visit all in this view but I might invite you to stop at Amoy [?[ & let Mr. Abeel tell you how China's double flaming shield point you to the open doors into that Celestial empire. I might invite you to India, & on the South let Mr. Ward tell you how universal is the demand for the religious teacher, & on the North let Morrison take you to the mingled waters of the Ganges & [...] & as hundreds of thousands come there still from custom to wash away their sins, let him tell you how the power of that superstition is waning & let you see in what throngs they gather to hear the missionary's story or receive the missionary's books. And so in other sections.
There it is, obstructions there are. Revolutions are going on. The enemy is awake. Some missions-bands are put to flight. But the very changes in the civil state of nations which throw up obstacles & which are sometimes so dark to us are afterwards seen to be points in Residence of light from which influences go forth to favor the earth's redemption. There is indeed much in the state of the moral field that betokens preparation for a new order of things.
There is an impressibility of mind widely existing that promises a rich & speedy reward to Christian exertion.
Now it may be said is the time for effective blows in many parts of Satan's empire. Now you may touch cords whose vibrations shall indeed reach far.
Now you may help bring into action causes that shall go to settle the destination of millions on millions.
Again I have to add the doing of our work in life, requires a spirit [of] unity. The object is one & it ought to engage every heart alike.
We are as laborers in one field, the labors too demand associated action[.] It is not indeed to be supposed that there should be perfect agreement of views, in different minds as to plans & modes &c. And often there is special occasion for a spirit that forbears & seeks to harmonize. A time there is found to be for giving up personal preferences, if vital principles are but secured. It is painful to know that, too much thought & energy are often expended by Christians about minor things when their work demands all their strength. Acrimonious dispecting [?]& angry strife sometimes have place where a forbearing & conciliatory spirit ought to be.
Union is Power. Union at the expense of truth is indeed not to be sought, but union in the truth for the love of it, may be & ought to be. The Gospel lays a foundation where the church may stand & harmoniously disperse the truth in love[.] There are in Christianity the elements of holy concord. And thus holy concordings influence should never be sacrificed to the promptings of unhallowed affection. Where we go to our work as Christian men we go as brethren. We have one Lord & one faith, the spirits then should harmonize our consecrated energies should write, & our embodies prayers go up in one column of accepted in[...].
And this leads to my final thought - The work of one life calls for a spirit of trust in God. -
Without this we are not half panoplied for our toils. Unless God is our banner we shall make no advance on Satan's empire. The victories the church has made are all through her Mighty Leader - & all to come will be.
There is enough in the vastness of the work, & the obstacles to be met, to make us feel how little & feeble we are. Sink in our weakness we well may, but rise we should in the strength of the Eternal One.
The conquest of the world efficiently by God, will be instrumentally by men, by men of high & controlling faith, men who will take the field & stay in it, who will not fly danger or start at the fires of Martyrdom if so, the truth is to be owned. [?] -
Such is the character & desperation of some of the enemies, that if the church means to carry forward her plans she must have men trained to high & holy trust in the Great Head of all, men who will bear all sacrifices, men whose hearts will beat with the Great Reformer when he said, "Let Christ live, though Luther die."