On the Advantages of Christian Knowledge to the Lower Orders of Society

“Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.”

There is no one topic on which the Bible, throughout the variety of its separate compositions, maintains a more lucid and entire consistency of sentiment, than the superiority of moral over all physical and all external distinctions. This lesson is frequently urged in the Old Testament, and as frequently reiterated in the New. There is a predominance given in both to worth, and to wisdom, and to principle, which leads us to understand, that within the compass of human attainment, there is an object placed before u»of a higher and more estimable character than all the objects of a common-place ambition — that wherever there is mind, there stands associated with it a nobler and more abiding interest than all the aggrandizements which wealth or rank can bestow — that within the limits of the moral and intellectual department of our nature, there is a commodity which money cannot purchase, and possesses a more sterling excellence than all which money can command. This preference of man viewed in his essential attributes, to man viewed according to the variable accessories by which he is surrounded — this preference of the subject to all its outward and contingent modifications — this preference of man viewed as the possessor of a heart, and of a spirit, and of capacities for truth and for righteousness, to man signalized by prosperity, and clothed in the pomp and in the circumstance of its visible glories — this is quite akin with the superiority which the Bible every where ascribes to the soul over the body, and to eternity over time, and to the Supreme Author of Being over all that is subordinate and created. It marks a discernment, unclouded by all those associations which are so current and have so fatal an ascendancy in our world — the wisdom of a purer and more ethereal region than the one we occupy — tfte unpolluted clearness of a light shining in a dark place, which announces its own coming to be from above, and gives every spiritual reader of the Bible to perceive the beaming of a powerful and presiding intelligence in all its pages.

One very animating inference to be drawn from our text, is how much may be made of humanity. Did a king come to take up his residence among you — did he shed a grandeur over your city by the presence of his court, and give the impulse of his expenditure to the trade of its population — it were not easy to rate the value and the magnitude which such an event would have on the estimation of a common understanding, or the degree of personal importance which would attach to him, who stood a lofty object in the eye of admiring townsmen. And yet it is possible, out of the raw and ragged materials of an obscurest lane, to rear an individual of more inherent worth, than him who thus draws the gaze of the world upon his person. By the act of training in wisdom’s ways the most tattered and neglected boy who runs upon our pavements, do we present the community with that which, in wisdom’s estimation, is of greater price, than this gorgeous inhabitant of a palace. And when one thinks how such a process may be multiplied among the crowded families that are around us — when one thinks of the extent and the density of that mine of moral wealth, which retires, and deepens, and accumulates, behind each front of the street along which we are passing — when one tries to compute the quantity of spirit that is imbedded in the depth and the frequency of these human habitations, and reflects of this native ore, that more than the worth of a monarch may be stamped, by instruction, on each separate portion of it — a field is thus opened for the patriotism of those who want to give an augmented value to the produce of our land, which throws into insignificance all the enterprises of vulgar speculation. Commerce may flourish, or may fail — and amid the ruin of her many fluctuations, may elevate a few of the more fortunate of her sons to the affluence of princes. Thy merchants may be princes, and thy traffickers be the honourable of the earth. But if there be truth in our text, there may, on the very basis of human society, and by a silent process of education, materials be formed, which far outweigh in cost and true dignity, all the blazing pinnacles that glitter upon its summit — and it is indeed a cheering thought to the heart of a philanthropist, that near him lies a territory so ample, on which he may expatiate — where for all his pains, and all his sacrifices, he is sure of a repayment more substantial, than was ever wafted by richly laden flotilla to our shores — where the return comes to him, not in that which superficially decks the man, but in a solid increment of value fixed and perpetuated on the man himself — where additions to the worth of the soul form the proceeds of his productive operation — and where, when he reckons up the profits of his enterprise, he finds them to consist of that, which, on the highest of all authorities, he is assured to be more than meat, of that which is greatly more than raiment.

Even without looking beyond the confines of our present world, the virtue of humble life will bear to be advantageously contrasted with all the pride and glory of an elevated condition. The man who, though among the poorest of them all, has a wisdom and a weight of character, which makes him the oracle of his neighbourhood — the man, who, vested with no other authority than the meek authority of worth, carries in his presence a power to shame and to overawe the profligacy that is around him — the venerable father, from whose lowly tenement the voice of psalms is heard to ascend with the offering up of every evening sacrifice — the Christian sage, who, exercised among life’s severest hardships, looks calmly onward to heaven, and trains the footsteps of his children in the way that leads to it — the eldest of a well-ordered family, bearing their duteous and honourable part in the contest with its difficulties and its trials — all these offer to our notice such elements of moral respectability, as do exist among the lowest orders of human society, and elements, too, which admit of being multiplied far beyond the reach of any present calculation. And while we hold nothing to be more unscriptural than the spirit of a factious discontent with the rulers of our land — while we feel nothing to be more untasteful than [the insolence of a vulgar disdain towards men of rank, or men of opulence — yet should the king upon the throne be taught to understand, that there is a dignity of an intrinsically higher order than the dignity of birth or of power — a dignity which may be seen to sit with gracefulness on the meanest of his subjects — and which draws from the heart of the beholder a truer and profounder reverence.

So that, were it for nothing more than to bless and adorn our present state, there cannot be an attempt of greater promise, than that of extending education among the throng of our peasantry — there cannot be a likeUer way of filling the country with beauteous and exalted spectacles — there cannot be a readier method of pouring a glory over the face of our land, than that of spreading the wisdom of life, and the wisdom of principle, throughout the people who live in it — a glory differing in kind, but greatly higher in degree, than the glories of common prosperity. It is well that the progress of knowledge is now looked to by politicians without alarm — that the ignorance of the poor is no longer regarded as more essential to the devotion of their patriotism, than it is to the devotion of their piety — that they have, at length, found that the best way of disarming the lower orders of all that is threatening and tumultuous, is not to enthral, but to enlighten them — that the progress of truth among them, instead of being viewed with dismay, is viewed with high anticipation — and an impression greatly more just, and greatly more generous, is now beginning to prevail, that the strongest rampart which can possibly be thrown around the cause of public tranquillity, consists of a people raised by information, and graced by all moral and all Christian accomplishments.

For our own part, we trust, that the mighty interval of separation between the higher and lower orders of our community, will, at length, be broken down, not by any inroad of popular violence — not by the fierce and devouring sweep of any revolutionary tempest — not even by any new adjustment, either of the limits of power, or the limits of property — not, in short, as the result of any battle, fought either on the arena of war, or on the arena of politics — but as the fruit of that gradual equalization in mind and in manners, to which even now a sensible approach is already making on the part of our artizans and our labourers. They are drawing towards an equality, and on that field, too, in which equality is greatly most honourable. And we fondly hope, that the time is coming, when, in frank and frequent intercourse, we shall behold the ready exchange of confidence on the one side, and affection on the other — when the rich and the poor shall love each other more, just because they know each other more — when each party shall recognize the other to be vastly worthier of regard and of reverence than is now apprehended — when united by the sympathies of a common hope, and a common nature, and on a perfect level in all that is essential and characteristic of humanity, they shall, at length, learn to live in love and peacefulness together, as the expectants of one common heaven — as the members of one common and rejoicing family.

But, to attain a just estimate of the superiority of the poor man who has wisdom, over the rich man who has it not, we must enter into the calculation of eternity — we must look to wisdom in its true essence, as consisting of religion, as having the fear of God for its beginning, and the rule of God for its way, and the favour of God for its full and satisfying termination — we must compute how speedily it is, that, on the wings of time, the season of every paltry distinction between them must, at length, pass away; how soon death will strip the one of his rags, and the other of his pageantry, and send them, in utter nakedness, to the dust; how soon judgment will summon them from their graves, and place them in outward equality before the great disposer of their future lot, and their future place, through ages which never end; how in that situation, the accidental distinctions of life will be rendered void, and personal distinctions will be all that shall avail them; how, when examined by the secrets of the inner man, and the deeds done in their

A a body, the treasure of heaven shall be adjudged only to him whose heart was set upon it in this world; and how tremendously the account between them will be turned, when it shall be found of the one, that he must perish for lack of knowledge, and of the other, that he has the wisdom which is unto salvation.

And here it is of importance to remark, that to be wise as a Christian is wise, it is not essential to have that higher scholarship which wealth alone can purchase — that such is the peculiar adaptation of the Gospel to the poor, that it may be felt in the full force of its most powerful evidence, by the simplest of its hearers — that to be convinced of its truth, all which appears necessary is, to have a perception of sin through the medium of the conscience, and a perception of the suitableness of the offered Saviour through the medium of a revelation, plain in its terms, and obviously sincere and affectionate in its calls. Philosophy does not melt the conscience. Philosophy does not make luminous that which in itself is plain. Philosophy does not bring home, with greater impression upon the heart, the symptoms of honesty and good will, which abound in the New Testament. Prayer may do it. Moral earnestness may do it. The Spirit, given to those who ask him, may shine with the light of his demonstration, on the dociUty of those Uttle children, who are seeking, with their whole hearts, the way of peace, and long to have their feet established on the paths of righteousness. There is a learning, the sole fruit of which is a laborious deviation from the truth as it is in Jesus. And there is a learning which reaches no farther than to the words in which that truth is announced, and yet reaches far enough to have that truth brought home with power upon the understanding — a learning, the sole achievement of which, is to read the Bible, and yet by which the scholar is conducted to that hidden wisdom, which is his light in life, and his passport to immortality — a learning, which hath simply led the inquirer’s way to that place, where the Holy Ghost hath descended upon him in rich effusion, and which, as he was reading, in his own tongue, the wonderful works of God, hath given them such a weight and such a clearness in his eyes, that they have become to him the words whereby he shall be saved. And thus it is, that in many a cottage of our land, there is a wisdom which is reviled, or unknown, in many of our halls of literature — there is the candle of the Lord shining in the hearts of those who fear him — there is a secret

Aa2 revealed unto babes, which is hidden from the wise and the prudent — there is an eye which discerns, and a mind that is well exercised on the mysteries of the sure and the well-ordered covenant — there is a sense and a feeling of the preciousness of that cross, the doctrine of which is foolishness to those who perish — there is a ready apprehension of that truth, which is held d,t nought by many rich, and many mighty, and many noble, who will not be admonished — but which makes these poor to be rich in faith, and heirs of that kingdom which God hath prepared for those who love him.

We know not, if any who is now present, has ever felt the charm of an act of intercourse with a Christian among the poor — with one, whose chief attainment is, that he knows the Bible to be true — and that his heart, touched and visited by a consenting movement to its doctrine, feels it to be precious. We shall be disappointed, if the very exterior of such a man do not bear the impress of that worth and dignity which have been stamped upon his character — if, in the very aspect and economy of his household, the traces of his superiority are not to be found — if the promise, even of the life that now is, be not conspicuously realized on the decent sufficiency of his means, and the order of his well-conditioned family — if the eye of tasteful benevolence be not regaled by the symptoms of comfort and cheerfulness which are to be seen in his lowly habitation. And we shall be greatly disappointed, if, after having survived the scoiF of companions, and run through the ordeal of nature’s enmity, he do not earn, as the fruits of the good confession that he witnesses among his neighbours, the tribute of a warm and willing cordiality from them all — if, while he lives, he do not stand the first in estimation, and when he dies, the tears and acknowledgments of acquaintances, as well as of kinsfolk, do not follow him to his grave — if, even in the hearts of the most unholy around him, an unconscious testimony is not borne to the worth of holiness, so as to make even this world’s honour one of the ingredients in the portion of the righteous. But these are the mere tokens and visible accompaniments of Christian excellence — the passing efflorescence of a growth that is opening and maturing for eternity. To behold this excellence in all its depth, and in all its solidity, you must examine his mind, and there see the vastly higher elements, with which it is conversant, than those among which the children of this world are grovelling — there see, how, in the hidden walk of the inner man, he treads a more elevated path than is trodden either by the daughters of gaiety, or the sons of ambition — there see, how the whole greatness and imagery of heaven are present to his thoughts, and what a reach and nobleness of conception have gathered upon his soul, by his daily approaches to heaven’s sanctuary. He lives in a cottage — and yet he is a king and priest unto God. He is fixed for life to the ignoble drudgery of a workman, and yet he is on the full march to a blissful immortality. He is a child in the mysteries of science, but familiar with greater mysteries. That preaching of the cross, which is foolishness to others, he feels to be the power of God, and the wisdom of God. That faithfulness which annexes to all the promises of the Gospel — that righteousness which is unto the believer — that fulness in Christ, out of which the supplies of light and of strength are ever made to descend on the prayers of all who put their trust in him — that wisdom of principle, and wisdom of application, by which, through his spiritual insight into his Bible, he is enabled both to keep his heart, and to guide the movements of his history, — these are his treasures — these are the elements of that moral wealth, by which he is far exalted above the monarch, who stalks his little hour of magnificence on earth, and then descends a ghost of departed greatness into the land of condemnation. He is rich, just because the word of Christ dwells in him richly in all wisdom. He is great, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon him.

So that, the same conclusion comes back upon us with mightier emphasis than before. If a poor child be capable of being thus transformed, how it should move the heart of a city philanthropist, when he thinks of the amazing extent of raw material, for this moral and spiritual manufacture that is on every side of him — when he thinks, that in going forth on some Christian enterprise among a population, he is in ti’uth, walking among the rudiments of a state that is to be everlasting- — -that out of their most loathsome and unseemly abodes, a glory can be extracted, which will weather all the storms, and all the vicissitudes of this world’s history — that, in the filth and raggedness of a hovel, that is to be found, on which all the worth of heaven, as well as all the endurance of heaven, can be imprinted-.-that he is, in a word, dealing in embryo with the elements of a great and future empire, which is to rise, indestructible and eternal, on the ruins of all that is earthly, and every member of which shall be a king and a priest for evermore.

And before I pass on to the application of these remarks, let me just state, that the great instrument for thus elevating the poor, is that Gospel of Jesus Christ, which may be preached unto the poor. It is the doctrine of his cross finding an easier admission into their hearts, than it does through those barriers of human pride, and human resistance, which are often reared on the basis of literature. Let the testimony of God be simply taken in, that on his own Son he has laid the iniquities of us all — and from this point does the humble scholar of Christianity pass unto light, and enlargement, and progressive holiness. On the reception of this great truth, there hinges the emancipation of his heart from a thraldom which represses all the spiritual energies of those who live without hope, and, therefore, live without God in the world. It is guilt — it is the sense of his awakened and unexpiated guilt, which keeps man at so wide a distance from the God whom he has offended. Could some method be devised, by which God, jealous of his honour, and man jealous of his safety, might be brought together on a firm ground of reconciliation — it would translate the sinner under a new moral influence, to the power of which, and the charm of which, he, before, was utterly impracticable. Jesus Christ died, the just for the unjust, to bring us unto God. This is a truth, which, when all the world shall receive it, all the world will be renovated. Many do not see how a principle, so mighty in operation, should be enveloped in a proposition so simple of utterance. But let a man, by his faith in this utterance, come to know that God is his friend, and that heaven is the home of his fondest expectation; and in contact with such new elements as these, he will evince the reach, and the habit, and the desire of a new creature. It is this doctrine which is the alone instrument of God for the moral transformation of our species. When every demonstration from the chair of philosophy shall fail, this will achieve its miracles of light and virtue among the people — and however infidelity may now deride — or profaneness may now lift her appalling voice upon our streets — or licentiousness may now offer her sickening spectacles — or moral worthlessness may have now deeply tainted the famiUes of our outcast and long-neglected population, — however unequal may appear the contest with the powers and the principles of darkness — yet let not the teachers of righteousness abandon it in despair; God will bring forth judgment unto victory, and on the triumphs of the word of his own testimony, will he usher in the glory of the latter days.

There is one kind of institution that never has been set up in a country, without deceiving and degrading its people; and another kind of institution that never has been set up in a country, without raising both the comfort and the character of its families. We leave it to the policy of our sister kingdom, by the pomp and the pretension of her charities, to disguise the wretchedness which she cannot do away. The glory of Scotland lies in her schools. Out of the abundance of her moral and literary wealth, that wealth which communication cannot dissipate — that wealth which its possessor may spread and multiply among thousands, and yet be as affluent as ever — that wealth, which grows by competition, instead of being exhausted — this is what, we trust, she will be ever ready to bestow on all her people. Silver and gold she may have none — but such as she has she will e-ive — she will send them to school. iShe cannot make pensioners of them — but will, if they like, make scholars of them. She will give them of that food by which she nurses and sustains all her offspring — by which she renders wise the very poorest of her children — by which, if there be truth in our text, she puts into many a single cottager, a glory surpassing that of the mightiest potentates in our world. To hold out any other boon, is to hold out a promise which she and no country in the universe, can ever realize — it is to decoy, and then most wretchedly to deceive — it is to put on a front of invitation, by which numbers are allured to hunger, and nakedness, and contempt. It is to spread a table, and to hang out such signals of hospitality, as draw around it a multitude expecting to be fed, and who find that they must famish over a scanty entertainment. A system replete with practical mischief, can put on the semblance of charity, even as Satan, the father of all lying and deceitful promises, can put on the semblance of an angel of light. But we trust, that the country in which we live will ever be preserved from the cruelty of its tender mercies — that she will keep by her schools, and her Scriptures, and her moralizing process; and that, instead of vainly attempting so to force the exuberance of Nature, as to meet and satisfy the demands of a population, whom she has led astray, she will make it her constant aim so to exalt her population, as to establish every interest that belongs to them, on the foundation of their own worth and their own capabilities — that taunted, as she has been, by her contemptuous neighbour, for the poverty of her soil, she will at least prove, by deed and by example, that it is fitted to sustain an erect, and honourable, and high-minded peasantry; and leaving England to enjoy the fatness of her own fields, and a complacency with her own institutions, that we shall make a clean escape from her error, and never again be entangled therein — that unseduced by the false lights of a mistaken philanthropy, and mistaken patriotism, we shall be enabled to hold on in the way of our ancestors; to ward off every near and threatening blight from the character of our beloved people; and so to labour with the manhood of the present, and the boyhood of the coming generation, as to enrich our land with that wisdom which is more precious than gold, and that righteousness which exalteth a kingdom.