can wield it, has resources at his command, of which kings might be proud, and before which princes must tremble. Public opinion is not an automaton; it does not work itself, but is worked by others. Public opinion is worked by mind. The question is yet in dispute, whose mind shall work it, the mind of the world, or the mind of the church. It is evidently the duty of Christians to stand firm to their own holy principles, to make those principles the rules of their conduct towards the world, and to require and expect from the world, a treatment in return corresponding to principles so just and so noble.

I. The Holy Spirit gives explicit revelations, that it is the bounden duty of Christians to influence and control the universal character, and the public opinion, of the world.

1. Christians are strictly commanded not to conform to the public opinion of the world, but to dissent from it. The Spirit saith expressly, "be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind:" the renewed mind will dissent from the mind of the world, and will, therefore, have sentiments and opinions of its own. Every Christian must have, like Caleb, "another spirit," differing from the spirit of the world, and, in the estimate of the world, strange and novel.

2. Christians are enjoined to oppose the public opinion of the world manfully and openly. The sentiments and the practices of the world must be attacked, and attacked with the weapons of nobler principles and better doings. There must be attack and conflict. It is not enough to lament the tone of public opinion, or multiply predictions against it, or lash it with satire, or wish its ruin; it must be attacked by exhibiting what is better than its own pretensions. We cannot influence public opinion without calling and arresting public attention; and to do this effectually we must exhibit something worthy of the public regard, we must exhibit such holiness, benevolence, and consistency, as will bear the scrutiny of the public eye. A character that will not sustain this ordeal had better lurk in its condemned retreat. Christians are witnesses for God, and their testimony is to "condemn the world." "Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Talk of difficult texts let any divine attempt to explain this text on the principles which in our day form the commercial character, and direct the money transactions, of many Christians!

3. Christians are required to maintain this opposition to the principles, opinions and habits of the world, till they master them. On this account the Holy Spirit instructs from deliberate and vigorous resolutions, to count the cost of our attack, to suppress every fear of distant evils, to apply strenuously to our own work, and to leave the event with God. To him that overcometh will the crown be given; but he that overcometh must be faithful even unto death. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; he shall possess and enjoy all that he has conquered, and shall inherit all things as a child of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. Ere this consummation shall be enjoyed, the Christian must maintain an unwearied conflict with the world; when repulsed and foiled, he must return to the combat, persevere, in uniform steadiness, to the end of the warfare, without once quitting his post or resigning his colors, and, though faint and trembling, stand his ground till pronounced more than conqueror."

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4. Christians are to retain and improve their mastery over the maxims and habits of the world, in order to influence and control the public opinion of the world. To counteract a bad moral influence, Christians must have such sterling capital of character, as will suffice to create a good one. The work of the church is not to represent public opinion, but to originate it, and, having originated it, to possess it and control it. The history of philosophy shows that all the orignators of opinion were men in advance of their times men who went before their age, and preceded their generation. Christians will, therefore, never improve the world, without being far in advance of the world, in character and activity. The bad state of the world is to be traced much to the remissness, and the fault of Christians. When they truckle to worldly influence, or comply with worldly demands, or conform to worldly habits, they cause the name of God to be blasphemed; they dishonor their religion; they harden the wicked, and are condemned with the world. Because they are not the salt of the earth, the world becomes offensive; because they are not the light of the world, thousands miss the way to heaven.

5. It is predicted by the Holy Spirit that the entire world, with all its sentiments and opinions, shall be brought under the influence and power of Christian principles. To the Apostle of our confession, to the Author and Finisher of our faith, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.

This will be secured, not by force and coercion, but by the attractions and fascination of holy character. In that day, every grace and virtue of Christians will be in full developement and vigorous maturity: faith will be strong as the cedar of Lebanon; hope bright as the lily of the valley; love glowing as the rose of Sharon; peace fresh and evergreen like the olive; joy wide and full like the clustered vine; while humility will perfume the world with an odor as sweet as the scent of the myrtle. Religion will inscribe the characters of holiness upon the common affairs of life, for then the merchandize and the hire of men will be “holiness unto the Lord." The merchant will be, as to devout feeling and purpose, as holy in the transaction of business, as he is now in the public means of grace; and the laborer in getting his hire, will be as conscientious and devotional, as he is now at the domestic altar. The crown and the throne of the church will be her own religious character. It is the graces of her character that make her the perfection of beauty; and, without these, she will never become the joy of the whole earth. Her beauty and her power will consist, in her holy separation from the world, in her unfeigned and enlarged charity, in the abundance of her faith and good works, in her diligence and labor to sanctify every house to be a temple of the Lord, every family to be a church, and every man to be a member of Christ.

II. It is impossible to contemplate this noble and mighty achievement, a world prostrated before Christ, without feeling the conviction that, before it is accomplished by the church, the church itself must be altered, must be converted, must be very different from what it has been. The church has been eighteen hundred years acquiring a character, and up to this day, with the brilliant exception of her apostolic first love, she has not acquired a character of sufficient weight and force to constrain the world to believe her sincere. Her panoply is supplied to her for this purpose. To prepare and furnish her for the conquest of the world, she requires no other arms than are supplied in the scriptures, no other tactics than are taught there; the entire difference and change will consist in the dispositions, the skill, and the energy, with which she will employ her weapons, and practice her instructions, “as an army terrible with banners."

1. Before our faith conquers the world, our own devotion must become more intense, our own religion more elevated,

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and our own character more pure. God has no other way overcoming evil than with good; and he, who hopes to overcome the tremendous and offensive mass of evil in the world, must himself be good, and powerfully good. Without sterling and pure goodness, the influence of bad examples around him will creep insensibly over his principles, till it has tarnished his character, and paralyzed his power. In our world, principles of evil seem much more efficient in activity, than principles of good. Even in heaven, we think that one evil intelligence intruding there, will do more harm than all the hosts of saints and angels would do good to him. How firm in goodness, then, must he be, who nobly dares the attempt of overcoming evil with good! Unless religious feelings be intense and powerful in the heart, Christians cannot frown with power upon sin. Shame attached to any sin is always a correct index to public opinion. In proportion as religion shall elevate the standard of public morals, and purify the character of public sentiment, will be the extent and force of the influence of shame in a community.

2. Christians will not influence public opinion, until they put in exercise a more thorough self-denial, in strenuous and continued effort, than has yet been exhibited. There must be a willingness to sacrifice ease, a cheerfulness to consecrate time, a promptitude to lend influence, and a disposition to resign our own persons, at the call of duty, and to the pursuits of usefulness. At present, time is valued by the standard of business, and not by the test of well-doing. Our best institutions find it difficult to obtain the presence and support of Christians, except in the evenings of the day, when the allotments of time, due to the world, have been first fully paid. When the churches are invited to fast for the iniquity of the world, it is generally on a day, when it is known that the world will have no claims upon them. Hence young Christians are taught to infer, that the claims of religion and usefulness are only secondary, and that the demands of the world are primary and paramount. There is also, in the churches, a tendency to do every good by agents, deputed to accomplish it, and paid for their engagements. This they might do, but not leave the other undone. The agent should be their helper and not their proxy. The apostolic churches did not depute committees and societies to do good instead of them; they did it themselves; but, now, it is well known that committees are discouraged, and that societies languish, sim

ply because there is not self-denial enough in our churches, to support and animate them in their lofty enterprise.

3. We have remarked already that public opinion is originated and governed by mind. Therefore, before it can be brought under the influence of Christian faith, the character of the mind of Christians must be improved, and the church, as such, must attend to the cultivation of a noble and lofty intellect. Christians must seize the work of education, and for this purpose they must have ability and aptness to educate. It is true that an art or science may be thoroughly learned, without any connexion with religion; but, in that case, the discipline through which the mind passes, and the tastes which the mind acquires in learning it, are perfectly irreligious, and are fully unchristian, if it be not anti-christian. This discipline, and these tastes, will affect the mind of the learner for life. Such a mind will never court the influence of religion: it will desire everything to be free from religious influence; and all its communications will be of the same character. Education without religion is like education without food; it must end in death.

The church will never maintain a mental character in the world, without an educated ministry; and without a mental character, it will never influence and govern the mind of the world. In connexion with this subject, there are two practices beginning to prevail in our churches, which every Christian should set his face against, as a flint. The first is the proneness of many churches to choose uneducated men for pastors. By uneducated men is not meant, men who have not been in theological institutions, but men of undisciplined and of unthinking minds, whether they have been in colleges or not. It is true, men of no education may be useful in given districts, or for a season; but whenever any churches get into difficulties and perplexities, they invariably have recourse, for direction and relief, to men of mind. athletic man at the helm can steer the ship in given circumstances; but in cloudy seasons, and under strange skies, the whole crew transfer their confidence to the student of navigation. The second practice to which we have referred, is the indiscreet haste of theological students to quit the school of discipline for the field of labor. No delusion is more gross than the fancy of the youth, that, the earlier he begins his labors, the more good he will do. If the student longs to save souls, he can do this by many means besides the public

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