The works of William Mason, M.A., precentor of York, and rector of Aston

Contents

OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.

SERMON I.

On the Use of the World, as permitted by Revelation.

I

It has been said, “ That there is a nation on the globe, the very fundamental object of whose constitution is political freedom :* I need not intimate to this audience where the nation is to be found, they will instinctively perceive, and feel a happy glow from the perception, that it is not far from every one of them. They will therefore readily allow, that, if the British constitution cannot provide for the happiness of individuals without the aid of Religion, no other in the world can. With reference therefore to the Liberty of Great- Britain, may I have leave to pursue my argument? It will, I hope, receive additional force from employing this medium, it will bring the truth home to our own business and bosoms, and become the more convincing, in proportion as it is the more interesting and engaging.

“ Political Liberty” is justly defined, <c to consist in that tranquillity of mind which results from a consciousness of self-security. In order to produce which, it is necessary that the mode of government be such, that no single citizen in it can stand in dread of another.”f This is peculiarly the case of our happy establishment, in which this self-security is so perfect, that public credit rests on no other basis than the stability of private property. Where therefore there can be no oppression, one should imagine there can be no distress : and in fact, politically speaking, there can be none ; that is, none that can arise from the constitution itself. If there be

* L’Esprit des Loix, Liv. xi. chap. 5th.

t L’Esprit des toix, Liv. xi. chap. 6th.

[Sermon III.

any, it must spring from another cause ; a cause, which, alas, it is not very difficult to investigate ; it must arise from the baneful influence of private vices ; and till these be proved not only public but private benefits, (to the latter of which Infidelity has not yet ventured to extend her mock demonstration) we may safely rest our cause on the good old Stoical doctrine, that “ every degree of vice induces a proportionable degree of slavery.” A doctrine which has received additional force and vigor from the Gospel itself. It would be endless to quote the particular passages; and indeed where vice is considered in the extreme, so as to occasion a total dissoluteness of manners, the shameful servitude that attends it, is too apparent to need a proof from that high authority. Let us rather examine into its effects when it is countenanced by fashion, reckoned among the refinements of civil life, and when it puts on so plausible an appearance as, in many instances, to pass, with the young and unwary, for an innocent, if not a laudable, amusement.

Let us first take the case of Gaming, which, while pursued at proper intervals, and restrained to moderate sums, may perhaps, in persons of fortune, be amongst the most harmless of their pleasures. But how seldom is it kept within these limits ; how soon does it become a habit ? and when it is such, is even Avarice itself a more rigorous, a more tyrannical master ? Ask any man, who has suffered it to get the ascendency in his breast if he has not often felt the innate love of liberty recoil against it ? If he answers ingenuously, he will confess how often it has forced him into the worst company, the worst hours, the worst behaviour ; to the wasting of his health, the killing of his time, the degradation of his rank, the impoverishment of his fortune. Beset with debts of honour, how often to satisfy these has he been obliged to postpone satisfying the debts of justice : when he is in this situation, I would ask, what is become of his Liberty as a Briton ? I would ask if he still feels himself that manly, free, independent being which he was originally by his birth-right ? and which no alteration in the constitution, no tyrant, but one within his own bosom, has either influenced or opprest ?

In like manner might the man of Gallantry be interrogated. He who, descending as little as possible from his dignity as a man, mixes a degree of sentiment with his sensual appetites, and, in the indulgence of them, preserves some delicacy of taste, and decorum of manners. I speak not of the profligate debauchee ; the instance would be too gross, the proof too glaring for my purpose : for in this more polished character we shall find flaws enough to abate its lustre ; and be soon convinced that these pursuits have a direct tendency to servitude, even in cases ( which are but rare) where they avoid infamy. There is a neighbouring Nation, the

VOL. IV. D

[Sermon III.

fundamental principle of whose constitution is said to be Honour, as ours is Liberty. In that country it is well known how long and how universally the spirit I am speaking of has reigned, nor are the ill effects of it less notorious : for is it not there ever diverting the stream of Honour from running in its direct course ? and might it not, if equally prevalent here , have the same prejudicial influence on the ampler tide of our Liberty? But, leaving this question undecided, I would ask if there is not something in the very nature of these pursuits incompatible with the dignity and freedom of man ? Does it not, sometimes, tempt him to be the seducer of that innocence of which God constituted him the protector ? Does it not, at other times, debase him into a station the very reverse of that which nature intended him to fill in the system of creation, and of that which policy ordained him to hold in the order of civil society ? This consideration, exclusive of more cogent arguments that might be drawn from religion, is sufficient to shew that this passion can never be safely indulged, but when sanctified by the laws of God and our country, and when a sympathy of accordant hearts is legitimated by the nuptial union. This only can prevent one party from becoming a slave, because this only can fix the other a friend; for, whatever the heat of fancy may suggest, reason assures us that no alliance can be durable which is not founded on mutual and equal interest.

The same sort of reflections might, with propriety, be extended to many other vices which fashion terms pleasures, and which luxury is ever apt to introduce into opulent communities. But the instances already produced prove sufficiently what was at first asserted, that every degree of vice carries with it a proportionable degree of slavery, and consequently prevents us from enjoying the full benefit of those civil blessings which our constitution enables us to enjoy. Is it then necessary to add, that we ought to oppose to these temptations, the prudent reserve and rational self-denial which our holy religion directs us to employ; and that, laying aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, we endeavour to run liberally and manfully the race which is set before us ?

We have the greatest encouragement to do this from the equitable form of government under which we live ; which, as it rightly entitles this nation to be styled a Land of Liberty, will appear, in examining the second proposition, to be more favourable to the true cultivation of this religious principle than any other : so much so, that where liberty is, there ought to be found the spirit of the Lord.