which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tably people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou alt be no priest unto me: seeing thou hast forgotten the laws of thy God, I will also forget to children. THERE SHALL BE LIKE PEOPLE, LIKE PRIEST; and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their doings. Thus saith the Lord God, Woe unto the foolish prophets, hat follow their own spirits, and have seen nothing. O Israel, thy prophets are like the fores in the deserts. There→ fore, thus saith the Lord, because they have spoken vanity, and seen les, therefore, behcia, I am against them, saith the Lord God. Because they have seduced my people, saying, Peuce, peace, when there was no peace: and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar. Therefore, I will break down the wall, and it shall full, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. O ge priests, ye have departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law. THEREFORE have I made you contemptible before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways.* It were easy to fill many pages with quotations from the Old Testament, which speak in a similar

* Jer. x. 18, 21. xii. 10. 5. Hosea, iv. 6, 9, 10. v. 1.

xxii. 9, 14, 15, 23, 27, 30. Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, 4, Ezek. xiii. 4, 8, 9, 10. Malachi, ii. 8.

strain. And the same language is continued in the New Testament. There we read of "false teachers;" of teachers "reprobate concerning the truth;" of men who, by their false doctrines, and unhallowed practices, "overthrew the faith" of those around them; of men who "sought their own, not the things which are Jesus Christs." And we are assured, that such, not only "brought upon themselves swift destruction;" but that "many followed their pernicious ways,” and that, on their account, "the way of truth was evil spoken of." In short, in every part of scripture, we find error in doctrine, and corruption in practice, in the church, uniformly traced to the ignorance, unfaithfulness, or profligacy of those, whose office and whose duty it was to have been teachers and guides of the people. The language before quoted of the inspired prophet-"like people, like priests," may be considered as an epitome of all the scriptural statements on this subject.

III. The great principle which it is my present object to establish, is further confirmed BY ALL THE

ANALOGIES AND FACTS WHICH PERVADE EVERY SPECIES OF SOCIETY.

In the family circle-if the parents, the natural instructors and guides of youth, be ignorant, unprincipled, profane, or profligate; who does not expect, as a matter of course, to find the children walking in the same steps of ignorance, pollution and shame? And if they be found to possess the opposite character, who does not regard it as a kind of moral miracle? Nay, in the estimation of the wise, it is not necessary that a parent be profligate, in order to be

C

a curse to his children. Such is the tendency of human nature to sink down into darkness and ruin, that indolence alone, on his part, may effectually destroy them. Only let him entirely neglect their intellectual and moral culture, and he will probably train them up to be miserable vagabonds, a disgrace to himself, and the pests of society.

In like manner, in a seminary of learning; do we not always find the attainments and character of the taught, to bear a distinct proportion to those of the teachers? If those who occupy the place of instructors be grossly defective. either in scholarship or diligence, who can reasonably suppose that they will succeed in the propagation of sound knowledge? If preceptors be ignorant, it were strange, indeed, to find their pupils well instructed. If those who are employed to cultivate the minds, and form the habits of the young, be incompetent to the discharge of their duties, and set an unworthy example, how can learning, and virtue, and order, be expected to reign among those committed to their care? As well might we expect darkness to beget light, or vice to propagate virtue. And if the degeneracy should become so wide-spread, as that the whole body of literary teachers in a country, at the same time, should be unqualified and unfaithful, would not the general interests of literature, necessarily, and as a matter of course, be every where utterly degraded? If the fountains be corrupt, the streams, surely, cannot be pure and salutary. It is impossible. What the former are, the latter will ever be.

The same principle applies to the civil community.

Legislators and magistrates give law to those around them, not only by official enactments, but also by their example, and by the incalculable power of their influence. When, therefore, they throw the whole weight of their example and influence, whatever may be their amount, into the scale of order, virtue, and true religion, the consequence is always happy. There never was an instance of this being thoroughly done, by leading men, as a body, without giving a tone to publick sentiment and practice of the most benign character. And, on the contrary, there never was an instance of their generally taking an opposite course, without producing effects of the most injurious kind on publick morals and happiness. If it be true, in every walk and connexion of life, that one sinner destroyeth much good; it is equally true, that one truly pious and exemplary man produceth much good. But when that sinner, or that pious man, holds a conspicuous and influential place in society, who can set bounds to the good or the evil which he may, and probably will, occasion? Every additional degree of elevation which he holds, or of influence which he possesses, will render him a greater blessing, or a heavier curse, each day that he lives. In a word, as the general character of the Rulers of a nation is, so will the nation itself certainly prove.

But if this principle apply to every other class of rulers and leaders among men, much more essentially and solemnly does it apply to ministers of the gospel. Because the great interests intrusted to their official administration, are infinitely more momentous than

the highest of those which secular men, as such, can ever pursue; because, in spiritual things, we stand in more pressing need of stimulants, and guidance, and aid, than in temporal pursuits; and because the consequences of the influence which ministers exert, and of the impressions which they make, not only affect this mortal life, but stretch into eternity. The highest object which kings, emperors, and legislators ever propose to themselves, in their fondest plans, is the advancement of population, wealth, external tranquillity, and temporal happiness. None of them ever sought the sanctification of the human heart, and the everlasting welfare of men, as the ultimate end of their plans. But the great end of that kingdom which faithful ministers recommend and promote, while it includes many subordinate benefits, is moral and eternal blessedness. Of this kingdom alone it may be said, that it is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And to him alone who is immediately instrumental in saving or destroying a soul, do the highest responsibilities attach of which man is capable. When other leading men in the community act their part, they will, no doubt, exert some degree of influence on the moral as well as the secular interests of men; but the activity of ministers of the gospel is primarily destined to affect, and, to the whole extent of its influence, does affect the spiritual and eternal interest of all within the sphere of their ministrations. I have only to add

IV. That all these reasonings ARE ABUNDANTLY

CONFIRMED BY THE VOICE OF HISTORY.