SERMON DCXXXII.

BY REV. DAVID DOBIE,

PLATTSBURGH, N. Y.

FEAR OF CONTAGION AND DISEASE.

"Every house is shut up that no man may come in."—ISAIAH Xxiv. 10.

FROM the context it would seem these words are intended to describe the state of things in a city during a famine, or the prevalence of some very fatal and contagious disease. At such times there is a state of feeling, common to all, which it may be profitable to study, that we may the better ascertain the restraints whereby it ought to be controlled. We read of those who take no precautions against the pestilence, even when it is raging with terrible destructiveness. They satisfy themselves with saying, that if they are decreed to die by the plague, they will so die—it is the will of God! But this is an exception to the common sense of the world. Acting on the natural love of life, which God has implanted within them, men are generally disposed to avoid disease, and every evil whereby their health or life may be endangered.

The wisdom of this law of self-preservation is very manifest. If it were not a law of man's nature, and if mankind were not every hour more or less under its influence, there would be scenes of woe, even in this miserable world, which, in all its wretchedness, it has never so much as imagined. The Creator foresaw this when he made man; and he made self-preservation one of the primary laws of his being one of the most sacred, necessary, and useful laws of the human mind. It is the divinely sanctioned principle which underlies all human laws-the basis of all right enactments protecting health, reputation, property, and life in the body politic. And it is because God approves of the principle, that his approval extends to these enactments, and the authority by which they are enforced: "Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." Thus God throws his shield over the life and well being of his creature: and whoever undermines my health, blasts my reputation, invades my property, or endangers my life-commits an offence which God will avenge. This law is also a guide in respect to pursuits in life. It teaches what to adopt and what to avoid. Any pursuit, the legitimate tendency of which is adverse to the health or morals of men, is essentially bad, through the force of this law. The trade in intoxicating liquor comes under this condemnation. It is properly of the nature of suicide; and there is no more wisdom in granting it license than there is in allowing a madman to possess the instruments by which he will take his own life, or that of his keeper. It is a trade to be prohibited and put down, as we would extinguish a conflagration and punish the incendiary. It is also worthy of remark that the law of self-preservation is the basis of all encouragements given to science-especially to the science of preventing and healing disease. Every discovery and improvement in medical skill

is so much more towards the preservation of human life, and is hailed with satisfaction by all. The same thing is true of education and the diffusion of knowledge. By these means men's minds are enlightened and aroused to avoid whatever is noxious to health and life.

Heathenism places little value on human life. The same thing has been observed in reference to infidelity, whose reign was the reign of murder. To the praise of Christianity be it recorded, that one of its invariable influences, in all lands, is to throw around life a sacred inviolability, not to be removed, save in the most desperate extremity. He that attacks life, attacks the very foundation on which society is built. Life ranks first among things to be protected. Every man feels that there are good reasons for this from the very instincts of nature. Both reason and revelation show that life is man's most sacred interest; and this is the ground on which precautions against contagion and disease are justifiable. No instruction or persuasion is necessary in such circumstances; an intimation that men are in danger is enough; you need not persuade them to "shut up the house that no man may come in." Let them know that contagion is in their path, and they will quickly flee. The very face of their friend will be a terror to them. They will not inhale the faintest breath. It was imposed upon lepers in ancient times, on approaching any person not afflicted with their disease, to cry, "Unclean! unclean!" as the condition of their being permitted to live. Men are everywhere alive to the instincts which enacted that ancient law. Let the plague break out, and what a sensation is produced. What trembling at the bare possibility of being exposed! What abstinence from former gratifications! What suspicion in every look! What scrupulous precautions, such as at other times would hardly be endured! It is necessary to see this state of things, to know the full extent of what men will do. Business is suspended. The once thronged streets are still as the grave. Music ceases in the halls of the rich. Mirth is reproved, where once it was a virtue. Every man thinks how he may for a certainty preserve himself from the breath of the destroyer. The precious bonds of society verily seem on the eve of dissolution. How thankful we ought to be that such seasons visit us but very seldom. Yet they do come, and we are compelled to know what it is to dread contagion. As this dread may easily become inordinate, and lead to the very evils which it seeks to shun, it is the object of the present discourse to point out some of the principles by which it should be controlled.

I. The fear of contagion and disease should never be indulged without the distinct recognition that disease and all its causes are under the immediate and all-wise superintendence of God. Unless we bear this in mind, our fear will certainly overstep its proper limits. If we lose sight of the great fact that God reigns and rules over all that pertains to life and its continuance, we must of necessity do wrong, by rushing into conduct and sentiments also, wholly at variance with the honor of God and hurtful to our own peace. A sense of His presence and an assurance of His protecting hand is especially needful when death has entered our windows; when the pestilence is abroad, destroying its thousands-filling every house with fear, lamentation and woe. Our fear of contagion is instinctive, and springs from the law of self-preservation implanted within us, and it is

SERMON DCXXXII.

BY REV. DAVID DOBIE,

PLATTSBURGH, N. Y.

FEAR OF CONTAGION AND DISEASE.

"Every house is shut up that no man may come in."-ISAIAH xxiv. 10.

FROM the context it would seem these words are intended to describe the state of things in a city during a famine, or the prevalence of some very fatal and contagious disease. At such times there is a state of feeling, common to all, which it may be profitable to study, that we may the better ascertain the restraints whereby it ought to be controlled. We read of those who take no precautions against the pestilence, even when it is raging with terrible destructiveness. They satisfy themselves with saying, that if they are decreed to die by the plague, they will so die—it is the will of God! But this is an exception to the common sense of the world. Acting on the natural love of life, which God has implanted within them, men are generally disposed to avoid disease, and every evil whereby their health or life may be endangered.

The wisdom of this law of self-preservation is very manifest. If it were not a law of man's nature, and if mankind were not every hour more or less under its influence, there would be scenes of woe, even in this miserable world, which, in all its wretchedness, it has never so much as imagined. The Creator foresaw this when he made man; and he made self-preservation one of the primary laws of his being one of the most sacred, necessary, and useful laws of the human mind. It is the divinely sanctioned principle which underlies all human laws-the basis of all right enactments protecting health, reputation, property, and life in the body politic. And it is because God approves of the principle, that his approval extends to these enactments, and the authority by which they are enforced: "Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." Thus God throws his shield over the life and well being of his creature: and whoever undermines my health, blasts my reputation, invades my property, or endangers my life-commits an offence which God will avenge. This law is also a guide in respect to pursuits in life. It teaches what to adopt and what to avoid. Any pursuit, the legitimate tendency of which is adverse to the health or morals of men, is essentially bad, through the force of this law. The trade in intoxicating liquor comes under this condemnation. It is properly of the nature of suicide; and there is no more wisdom in granting it license than there is in allowing a madman to possess the instruments by which he will take his own life, or that of his keeper. It is a trade to be prohibited and put down, as we would extinguish a conflagration and punish the incendiary. It is also worthy of remark that the law of self-preservation is the basis of all encouragements given to science-especially to the science of preventing and healing disease. Every discovery and improvement in medical skill

is so much more towards the preservation of human life, and is hailed with satisfaction by all. The same thing is true of education and the diffusion of knowledge. By these means men's minds are enlightened and aroused to avoid whatever is noxious to health and life.

Heathenism places little value on human life. The same thing has been observed in reference to infidelity, whose reign was the reign of murder. To the praise of Christianity be it recorded, that one of its invariable influences, in all lands, is to throw around life a sacred inviolability, not to be removed, save in the most desperate extremity. He that attacks life, attacks the very foundation on which society is built. Life ranks first among things to be protected. Every man feels that there are good reasons for this from the very instincts of nature. Both reason and revelation show that life is man's most sacred interest; and this is the ground on which precautions against contagion and disease are justifiable. No instruction or persuasion is necessary in such circumstances; an intimation that men are in danger is enough; you need not persuade them to "shut up the house that no man may come in." Let them know that contagion is in their path, and they will quickly flee. The very face of their friend will be a terror to them. They will not inhale the faintest breath. It was imposed upon lepers in ancient times, on approaching any person not afflicted with their disease, to cry, "Unclean! unclean!" as the condition of their being permitted to live. Men are everywhere alive to the instincts which enacted that ancient law. Let the plague break out, and what a sensation is produced. What trembling at the bare possibility of being exposed! What abstinence from former gratifications! What suspicion in every look! What scrupulous precautions, such as at other times would hardly be endured! It is necessary to see this state of things, to know the full extent of what men will do. Business is suspended. The once thronged streets are still as the grave. Music ceases in the halls of the rich. Mirth is reproved, where once it was a virtue. Every man thinks how he may for a certainty preserve himself from the breath of the destroyer. The precious bonds of society verily seem on the eve of dissolution. How thankful we ought to be that such seasons visit us but very seldom. Yet they do come, and we are compelled to know what it is to dread contagion. As this dread may easily become inordinate, and lead to the very evils which it seeks to shun, it is the object of the present discourse to point out some of the principles by which it should be controlled.

I. The fear of contagion and disease should never be indulged without the distinct recognition that disease and all its causes are under the immediate and all-wise superintendence of God. Unless we bear this in mind, our fear will certainly overstep its proper limits. If we lose sight of the great fact that God reigns and rules over all that pertains to life and its continuance, we must of necessity do wrong, by rushing into conduct and sentiments also, wholly at variance with the honor of God and hurtful to our own peace. A sense of His presence and an assurance of His protecting hand is especially needful when death has entered our windows; when the pestilence is abroad, destroying its thousands-filling every house with fear, lamentation and woe. Our fear of contagion is instinctive, and springs from the law of self-preservation implanted within us, and it is