1862 - Ward, R. Lectures from New Zealand - LECTURE III. THE WOES AND WANTS OF THE WORLD.

       
E N Z B       
       Home   |  Browse  |  Search  |  Variant Spellings  |  Links  |  EPUB Downloads
Feedback  |  Conditions of Use      
  1862 - Ward, R. Lectures from New Zealand - LECTURE III. THE WOES AND WANTS OF THE WORLD.
 
Previous section | Next section      

LECTURE III. THE WOES AND WANTS OF THE WORLD.

[Image of page 52]

LECTURE III.

THE WOES AND WANTS OF THE WORLD.

Woes: Those arising from outward circumstances--The sorrows which arise from our disordered constitution--The miseries which flow from want of mental culture--Evils resulting from ill-training--From the prevalence of error from licentiousness--From mistakes concerning religion--Their origin--Development--Consequences. Wants: "Given the World's woes, how can they, be removed?" Attempts to solve this problem. The true solution. Agents employed. Instruments used.

THE subject of this lecture may seem to be a melancholy one, as it introduces us to the woes of the world, and, treating on its wants, it assumes defects and anxieties.

All who have examined the slate of the world have come to the conclusion, that it is disordered; that elements foreign to its original constitution have been thrown into it; that the agent who has done this is an enemy; that those elements have power in them; that they have wrought their influence into every part of the world's being; and that the sorrows which abound in the earth are traceable to this cause.

But, it may be asked, why introduce such a subject to the attention of young men? A subject so different from the glowing colours in which youth is accustomed to look upon society, the buoyant hopes in which they so often indulge, and the thrill of pleasure of which they are so conscious. In reply, it may be said that our object is to contribute something towards preparing the

[Image of page 53]

minds of young men to meet the rough realities of life, to arm them against disappointment and danger, and to open before them the path to usefulness and honour.

It is not at all times easy to look the woes and the wants of the world full in the face, so as not to lean to either side, for sad mistakes have been made on this subject. In the estimation of some, the world is nothing less than the roll of the prophet, "Written within and without with lamentation, and mourning, and woe;" to others the world has appeared not indeed perfect, but full of mirth and laughter, of high hopes and noble deeds.

The subject naturally divides itself into two parts--Woes and Wants. We invite your attention, in the first place, to the Woes of the World, while we attempt to classify them, and to show their origin, their development, and their consequences.

We are aware of the difficulty of attempting to classify the world's woes, for their number is legion; they meet society at all points, and vary in the experience of every person. But this is the best plan that we can form to express our own idea of the evils we wish to expose.

Class 1.--The first class includes the misery arising from outward circumstances over which we have no control. The globe on which we live is fearfully and wonderfully made. According to the readings of geology, monstrous fires have held its solid matter in a state of fusion; during its process of cooling, granite rocks became crystallized, metals were interlaced, its various strata were formed, the lower orders of vegetable and

[Image of page 54]

animal life commenced, the amazing work proceeding till the earth became a fit habitation for man. However beautiful the earth was before man sinned, and whatever beauty may still be found in it, none can deny that it is the scene of numberless sorrows. The solid ground is sometimes torn by terrible convulsions, overthrowing cities, and burying their inhabitants alive by thousands. Hurricanes destroy both on the sea and on the dry land, lashing the sea into madness, and covering the caravans with the sand of the desert. In some places stern winter holds undivided sway, and cold performs the effect of fire; in others, plains lie sunburnt, cattle languish, and men are hurried by disease into a premature grave.

Class 2.--The sorrows which arise from our disordered constitution form the second class. Every part of the body is subject to disease, whose seeds are sown in our formation, and ripen in many cases in merest infancy. Childhood and youth are vanity, they are the target at which death often shoots with unerring precision. Men die in the prime of life, leaving their companions desolate and their children orphans, and grey hairs are often brought through sorrow to the grave.

Class 3.--The third class includes the miseries which flow from want of mental culture. Man is more affected by culture than any other being within our knowledge. Labour bestowed on almost anything may increase its usefulness or improve its beauty. The lapidary brings out the sparkling beauties of a stone, fitting it to deck a monarch's diadem. Cultivation bestowed upon a plant increases the beauty of its foliage and bloom,

[Image of page 55]

and improves the flavour of its fruit. A bird may be taught not only to imitate the notes of other birds, but also to mimic the human voice; and a beast may be trained to become our companion and our servant. But what are these improvements compared with that of which the human mind is susceptible? Who can depict the miseries which pervade large numbers of our fellow creatures in places where mind is untaught? Travellers tell us of rich tracts of well-watered land, of coasts beautifully indented with harbours, of climates salubrious and invigorating, and yet, through want of mental culture, the inhabitants are useless, poor, and wretched. In other lands, watered by rivers of note, and covered with mouldering ruins of bygone cities and worn-out dynasties, the people are mean and desponding, contented that the shepherd should feed his flock there by day, that owls should screech and satyrs should dance there by night. Who can comprehend the evils which are spread through highly civilized countries by the same cause. Is the ignorant man a tiller of the ground, he must be contented with a servant's place; is he a mechanic, the most laborious part of the business falls to his share; is he in a merchant's store, he must roll heavy casks, and almost take the place of beasts of burden; or, if he be a sailor, he must go before the mast. Whatever may be a man's calling, ignorance will probably increase his toil and sorrow; while comfort and honour are the prize held up before him who properly improves the faculties which God has given him.

Class 4.--The evils resulting from ill-training form the fourth class. It is a sad reflection that men of the

[Image of page 56]

most cultivated mind have not always been the most useful citizens; that errors of debasing consequences have been promulgated by men of literary attainments; and that practices, shocking to a well-regulated community, have been exhibited in the life of men whose writings have fascinated many generations. One cause, among others, to which this perversion of talent may be traced is ill-training. The training to which young men submit themselves includes the companions they keep, the books they read, the subjects they study, the motives by which they are governed, and the objects which they seek to gain. Well-trained men, men of positive worth, are needed to transact the business of this proud and overbearing world; men, whose minds are properly balanced, whose hearts are susceptible of right impressions, and who dare to be singular in order to be useful and good.

Class 5.--The prevalence of error constitutes the next class of evils which we wish to expose. Error in science has led many to read in the bespangled skies of disasters that were to come upon the earth, malignant dartings were seen in the beautiful stars, and men trembled at the woes which the stranger comet was supposed to portend. Error in medicine has racked multitudes with pain, and hurried them into the grave; in law it has been followed by poverty, imprisonment, and death; in education it has produced a pedant, on the one hand, and a dolt, on the other; and, in government, it has made one man a tyrant and all his subjects slaves.

Class 6.--The evils arising from licentiousness including irregular appetites and what is called free-

[Image of page 57]

thinking, form the next which we shall mention. The idea of licentiousness points to a being broken loose from the restraints of wholesome law, and proudly setting up his disordered heart as the test of virtue and vice. This, in the form of food and drink, produces the glutton and the drunkard; in the form of money-saving, the miser; in the form of pleasure, the fool and the madman. It is the cause of idleness, and dishonesty, and murder. Free-thinking, so called, is a deadly evil. Coolly setting aside the wisdom which has been accumulating for thousands of years, it prefers the speculations of the merest tyro; loosening the defences of society, it unchains a legion of demons, and bids them make the human race their prey.

Class 7.--The last class which we will mention includes the sorrows produced by mistaken views of the nature and requirements of religion. The miseries flowing from false religion form one of the heaviest curses under which our race can groan. True religion is obedience to God through Jesus Christ, accompanied by gratitude and love to God and man, wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit; it embraces our entire being, producing fruits of righteousness in the outward life. True religion demands a living faith, it invites fervent, unceasing prayer, and supplies innumerable blessings. But false religion is a compound of absurdity and crime, of ceremony, cruelty, and fear. Such was the religion of Baal, Ashteroth, and Moloch, in ancient Palestine; of the far-famed gods of Greece and Rome; of the multifarious idols of India; and such is the present character of false religion of

[Image of page 58]

every name and place. What ceremonies are so shocking and empty as those by which it is paraded in public and performed in private? What fear gives rise to such self-inflicted torments as the devotees of idolatry occasionally endure; as if the demon of cruelty was commissioned to surpass every other form of torture in the miseries he inflicts under the sanction of religion. Let us now turn our attention to the origin of these woes. They may be traced to--

"Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into our world, and all our woe."

Like some great river, whose waters have burst their banks, deluging the surrounding country, destroying cattle and crops, houses and families, so did the waters of sin burst the banks which separated them from every other part of God's dominions, and in an unguarded hour, sweep away every vestige of honour and happiness from man, turning Eden into a place of briars and thorns, Paradise into a howling wilderness, and spreading desolation over the whole earth.

Many of our sorrows may be traced to neglect. Broken health and ruinous habits are often the effects of neglected childhood. In manhood, wounded honour and years of darkness are the consequences of a want of punctuality and a disregard of truth. Poverty and wretchedness are the offspring of indolence and mismanagement. The neglected mind is generally incapable of fortitude and praiseworthy action, and the soul neglected, becomes a withered, scorched, and blasted being.

[Image of page 59]

Pride has always been a fruitful source of human misery. In some of its forms it gives rise to aggressive wars, whose records form the darkest pages of history. Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, laid fruitful countries waste, and hurried men by hundreds of thousands into the grave, for no better purpose than to satisfy the cravings of ambition. Pride meets us in every walk of life, leading captive the rich man and the poor, the young and the old. In the domestic circle, in the counting-house, and in the workshop, in the arena of political life, and in every other department of society, it is a fruitful branch of sorrow.

We will now ask attention to the development of the world's woes. The form they assume is regulated by circumstances. In ancient history we are told that a well was dug, and became the object of strife, and that the herdmen of Abraham and the herdmen of Lot quarrelled about the best pasture land. As the mode of life became more artificial, so sorrow became more varied, every advancing step being a fresh cause of complaint. The noblest specimens of industry are no exception, nor are the grandest discoveries of science, for much study is weariness to the flesh, and "he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." Who can describe the sorrow of each generation, as it has appeared and passed away. But our sorrow may be turned into joy, for a book lies before us, in which we read, with swelling emotion, "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound;" and though sin has reigned unto death, grace shall reign unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[Image of page 60]

But until the consummation of the reign of grace, all the stages of life will be attended by sorrow. It is heard in the cries of infancy, and the tearful eyes and anxious looks of the schoolboy are witnesses of the difficulties lying at the threshhold of knowledge. In after life prosperity brings its feverish excitement, or adversity dashes the cup of expectation to the ground. Old age forms no exception; for if nothing else disturbs, "the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets."

Every profession and calling in life has its own woes. How large is the class of persons whose heavy toil and severe sufferings enlist our sympathy as they cultivate the soil, or grapple with the storm, or, in distorted and painful postures, work in the deep and dark mines. The man whose inventive and calculating mind has adjusted machinery to some new purpose, has often the sorrow of finding that he has miscalculated. The medical practitioner sees his patients sinking under his most skilful efforts to save them. While the statesman consumes his health to serve his sovereign and his country on honourable principles, secret springs are perhaps touched by other hands, which frustrate his designs, and make him the mere tool of party strife. History informs us of powerful sovereigns having been so tortured and worn, that they found it more pleasant to abdicate a crown than to continue to support the responsibilities connected with it. And the minister of Christ, though he may be followed by multitudes, weeps in secret places, and exclaims concerning many

[Image of page 61]

of his charge, "I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain."

The consequences of the world's woes next demand our attention. Uncertainty hangs over most earthly things; so that we ought to say, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that." Some indulge the thought that this is a deteriorated age, but "say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this?" In every age happiness has been like a shattered vase, whose fragments cannot be put together by man. Peace is often sought, but is never found in the unregenerate heart. At the sight of a world in ruins angels may be astonished; at this sight Jesus wept.

But a brighter day dawns. The prophets of God have prepared us to hope for the future; for knowledge shall be increased, righteousness shall cover the earth, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all nations shall see it together. The signs of the times are full of promise. The disgusting excesses of intemperance are to be followed by sobriety, wars shall come to an end, and sorrow shall be banished. We have placed the woes of the world before you, not that we are afraid of them, but in order that you may be prepared to meet them manfully, and having acted your part well, may leave this world with the triumphant language of the apostle, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Our attention is now invited to the Wants of the

[Image of page 62]

World, and their relief. By this we mean something to repair the breaches which woes have made, to restore the equilibrium which distress has caused in the moral atmosphere; something which shall heal the body politic and social--a panacea for all our maladies.

A solution of the following problem has long been required: "Given the world's woes, how can they be removed?" As mathematicians of various orders have tried to solve this problem without success, we will glance at some of their solutions.

1. Let men be separated from the trammels of artificial life, then most of their sorrows will pass away. But this was not the case in the early history of the world. Cain slew his brother, and became a vagabond and a fugitive, and said that his punishment was greater than he could bear. The facts which have been disclosed in recent times, as the light of civilization pierced the thick darkness of barbarism, show that the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. New Zealand was stained with crimes of which cannibalism was the type. Australia was inhabited by a people destitute of almost every comfort. The islands of the Pacific ocean were, without exception, the abode of men in whom the basest passions raged. The Patagonians exercise such cruelty, that every feeling of humanity revolts from the description of it. The history of plundered ships and crews massacred by these children of nature, certainly leave the problem unsolved.

2. Another proposes, Liberty to all the appetites of nature, ad libitum. This was tried by almost every nation of antiquity. Sparta made herself memorable

[Image of page 63]

by inculcating vice under the name of virtue. The temples of Greece were devoted to the most abominable practices, and the very gods were described as monsters of vice. In modern times, France, under the pretence of liberty, was leading her citizens to death by thousands; and while trying to free men from the restraints of the moral law, she was writing the blackest pages of her history.

3. The proposal of a third is to reduce the nations to one political sway. When an approach towards this has been made, have the evils of the world been lessened? What benefits did the world receive from the victories of Alexander, and Caesar, and Tamerlane, and Bonaparte? It was when the Roman empire was in its glory that the darkest deed of man was done, in the murder of the Son of God. Since then, every attempt to secure extensive conquests has been stained with blood; and louder than the martial music which excited maddened hosts to battle, has been heard the mourning of the widow and the fatherless. The horrors of war cannot be told. They are like the angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth."

4. Another, going in the opposite direction, supposes that republicanism contains the long-sought remedy. This has often been tried, and under its influences the best institutions have been impeached, and the noblest patriots have been put to death.

5. Mental cultivation has been the talisman of another class. Different ages have produced men whose noble intellect has been improved by intense study,

[Image of page 64]

men who have made a deep impression in society; but after a long course of effort and usefulness, they have confessed their inability to relieve the world of its sorrows. Poetry long ago lighted its brightest lamps, eloquence inscribed its power in the hearts of thousands, history admirably recorded the vices, follies, and virtues of mankind. But while thought has often consumed the frame in which it did its work, and science has excited our wonder and our admiration, has intellect lifted man out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay? has it really removed our evils without filling their place with others?

6. Several social systems have been supposed to offer a solution of our problem. Some have attempted to level all distinctions of birth and fortune, to maintain all classes at a common board, to educate alike the children of all classes; so to form a new moral world, in which the pains and the penalties of the past are to be forgotten, or remembered with rejoicing that the trammels of society are thrown off, and that man is free. But as often as this gourd has sprung up, promising in their view a shelter to suffering humanity, a worm has been found at its root, causing it to wither in a day.

7. A high state of civilization, raising every class above poverty and ignorance, and spreading its influence into every part of the world, would, in the opinion of some, cure almost all our ills. But to this it may be replied, that while refinement removes some causes of sorrow, it increases others, making the mind more sensitive to injury, and fretting the heart more deeply

[Image of page 65]

with anguish. Such persons often exclaim with a sensibility which refinement alone can supply, "The heart knoweth its own bitterness!" In whatever direction and to whatever extent we pursue our inquiry, we find man unable to solve the problem,--"Given the world's woes, how can they be removed?"

But the sorrows of the world shall be relieved, although the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together until now. There is light in the future. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody shall take the place of mourning and woe. We will inquire into the characteristics of the Spirit through whose influence this great change shall be produced.

The remedy prescribed must be of universal application, reaching the rich and the poor, all ages and all countries. It must meet human nature at all points, and retain its efficacy to the end of time.

The Spirit needed must be able to overcome the evils which afflict society. Error is to be met by a clear and full statement of truth. Crime is to be confronted by strict integrity. Ignorance is to be chased away by knowledge. Law must supplant licentiousness. Liberty shall rejoice where bondage groaned. Pinching poverty shall vanish before well-conducted industry. Confusion shall give place to order, and drunkenness to sobriety. Long life may be expected instead of a premature grave. A state of morals is desiderated, which shall make jails and jailers mere matters of history, and, superseding the necessity of hulks and penal settlements, shall melt fetters and

[Image of page 66]

handcuffs into spades and pickaxes. Our sorrow-stricken nature longs for the reign of the Prince of Peace, and daily prays, "Thy kingdom come."

Advancement must characterise the Spirit of our deliverance. Localities now covered by swamps and jungle were once the sites of highly refined cities. The same deteriorating influence has rested upon large portions of our race, till losing one feature of civilization after another they have sunk into the lowest depths of barbarism. We need a Spirit of reform so strong as to meet this degenerating process, to stop it at once, and by eradicating the causes of it, and turning the heart and mind of man to God, secure the advancement of our race in the path of honour and goodness.

The world is fallen so low, and its wants are so numerous and diversified, that the Spirit which can fully meet its case must bear strong marks of perfection. This has long been felt; and the ancient heathen acknowledged that if the mind could be properly instructed, it must be by a teacher sent from God. We need a Spirit so perfect that neither poverty nor pain can disturb it, nor the grossest insults turn it from its course. It must do its work upon the high seas and upon the dry land. It may weep to see the grave swallowing up its victims by thousands, but weeping must not deter it from working. Earthly honours, names, and places must be regarded only as they help forward its grand design. It must not attempt to gain its object with a magic wand, but through appropriate means. The Spirit of our deliverance must possess authority and tact to enlist every sympathy of our

[Image of page 67]

nature, when we are pardoned and purified, into its favour, and to employ the whole in working out its great design.

In a word, the wants of the world point to a divine hand; they can never be supplied by any other. Man was justly driven out of Paradise by God, and he alone can admit him into favour again. He placed the Cherubim and flaming sword to guard the tree of life, and he alone can remove them, and permit the world to pluck its fruit, and eat and live. God intends to relieve the world of its sorrows, and has already done deeds of amazing grace towards its accomplishment. The first promise given to man was an engagement to deliver the world from the dominion of Satan. This was steadily kept in view as patriarchs and prophets did their work and passed away. For the salvation of the world Jesus Christ made his soul an offering, which satisfied the demands of God's justice, became the source of the Gospel message, opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The great change which awaits our race has been foretold by God himself; to bring about this change an almighty agency is needed, and God has engaged to supply it.

But, while this work is especially the work of God, he has condescended to permit us to be workers together with him. We ask attention to the following remarks on human agency in the enterprise of grace.

Royalty may find a place in this high commission; for Kings shall be nursing fathers, and Queens nursing mothers, to the Church which is rescued from the dominion of Satan. The Great Industrial Exhibition

[Image of page 68]

of 1851 is a specimen of what may be done when the heads and hearts of royalty shall enter with enthusiasm upon the work of blessing the world. If we mistake not, the part which His Royal Highness Prince Albert has taken to give a fresh impetus to the works of science and of art, will surround his memory with a richer halo than that which may be accorded to him in any other form.

Wealth is a talent which may be used for the advancement of society and the spread of religion. Noble examples have been exhibited of men who have laid their riches at the feet of Jesus. And men of reflective minds, having a shrewd insight of human nature and of the real state of the world, may find full employment if they will enter the service of God. Nor must the obscure and the poor suppose that the work of providence and of grace is beyond their reach, for from these classes God has selected some of his most influential agents.

In the instrumentality employed to deliver the world from its evils, the first place must be given to divine truth. By this foes have become friends, and demons in human shape have become public benefactors. None of us probably expect things so great as the Bible will really accomplish. Its construction is such as to invite our most careful study. The prophets of God relate to us the visions which they have seen and the voices which they have heard. The Evangelists record the sayings and doings of God manifest in the flesh. The writings of the Apostles are as a living teacher addressing us on every subject of faith and practice. Every species of composition seems to reach its climax

[Image of page 69]

in the Sacred Scriptures. We may be enchanted with Cowper and Thomson and Milton, we may sit among the shepherds and warriors of Virgil, we may see Troy in flames on the page of Homer; but where can we find poetry so sublime as in the writings of David and Isaiah and Habakkuk, or so tender and pathetic as in the Lamentations of Jeremiah? A living Spirit pervades the Bible, and communicates itself to every one who will "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the truths which it teaches, as may be seen in the superior condition of every country where the Bible is free.

Social intercourse when properly conducted is of great benefit; by introducing us to the circumstances of the poor and afflicted it arouses our sympathies; to the wise and the benevolent, it tends to dispose us to bind up the broken-hearted, and to comfort them that mourn. Intercourse between distant nations, as carried on by commerce and literature, shews that God has made of one blood all that dwell on the earth, and corrects the absurd notions which were once held by the most enlightened among the heathen. A Latin historian describes the sea washing the Caledonian coast as being so heavy that ships could scarcely move in it. One of the Shetland Isles was called the Ultima Thule. Britannia was said to be separated from the whole world. The ocean was thought to extend to some unknown and frightful boundary. Intercourse with distant nations has corrected these errors by enlarging our geographical knowledge, interchanging the productions of various climates, and modifying the laws and character of large portions of our race.

[Image of page 70]

A grand instrument is needed whose wheels shall work in every land, and whose springs are adjusted to the deepest recesses of the heart; its work is to grind to powder every kind of error and crime, and to blow that powder away till no place shall be found for it. The power by which it is worked must come from heaven, the balance which must maintain its efficiency is scriptural religion. Such an instrument is prepared, and is in the hands of God. Workmen are needed. Why stand ye all the day idle?

The interesting enquiry may now be made, What can I do towards relieving the wants of the world. The moral as well as the natural world is a field in which no one needs be idle. He who breaks up the soil, as well as he who superintends the farm, fills a useful place. The hewers of wood and the drawers of water must not be overlooked. So it is in the moral world; therefore, whatever our hands find to do should be done with our might. We have no moment to waste, but God has allotted us sufficient time for the accomplishment of all which he requires us to do. Money should be sanctified to the service of God. Many a youth spends as much in useless indulgencies as would suffice to purchase a few valuable books, and some good philosophical instruments; by the use of which he might be constantly preparing himself for usefulness. Beyond these, in its present influence and future effects, is religion in its heartfelt power. The man who is so prepared will find his place among the agents whom God employs to supply the wants of the world.


Previous section | Next section