The Pro and Con of Universalism: Both as to Its Doctrines and Moral Bearings

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Table Of Contents

Note to the Reader,. •••• • • . 4

Alice Sherwood, or, the Pennsylvania Valley— a tale,. ••• 6'

Preliminary Considerations,. ••.. • •••.••.. 40

Chapter I

CoRCKm, reader, if you please, a deep and qaiet ralley, of about five miles in length from the points whence it takes its particulai designation, and a mile and a half in medial breadth ; the hills, by which on both sides it is hemmed in, may be some two or three hnn dred feet in altitnde, and are very precipitous, varying indeed bu*. a little from perpendicularity ; from their bases to their summits they are covered with a thick natural growth of hemlock-fir-trees, intermingled with stunted hazels and sumachs, save that here and there may be seen a soft spot which has been cleared by the axe of the settler : and how picturesque is the effect of those spots ! they occur mostly in the occasional curvatures and indentations by which Nature, with her usual taste, has varied the monotony of these mountainous ridges ; or in the defiles which the rivulets from the interior have scooped out in their joumeyings towards the ocean.

I will suppose you standing on one of these acclivities, especially the one on the eastern side, for there the advantage of survey is grreatest, and the eye from thence can take in an extent of prospect only bounded by its reach of vision. What a scene of loveliness you now have before you ! it is but little rivalled, if at all, by the far-famed and classic Wyoming. A wide reach of fertile bottom land under excellent cultivation stretches for more than a mile in your front, and for miles on either'hand ; it varies in its shades of green according to the diversified products with which it is teeming ; the rich and extensive pasture grounds are mottled with cattle, and sheep, and lambs, which are feeding very contentedly, apparently conscions that their ** lines are fallen to them in pleasant places.** The trees which hav« been spared by the inhabitants foi a2

6 PRO AND CON OF UNIVERSALISHI.

parposofi of shade and ornament, throw out their branches with a Inxuriancy which betokens a generous soil, and certainly contribato their full quota toward the aggregate beauty of the picture.

A road, you perceive, runs lengthwise through the vale, along which many neat habitations are sprinkled ; and about midway there arises the steeple of a modest and tasteful house of worship; on its vane at this moment the sun's setting beams are reposing: a more fitting emblem of the mild and cheering character of the doctrines dispensed within that temple, could not well be ima gined^-doctrines adapted to shed on the spirit's parting hour the light of an immoveable trust in heaven.

But the brightest feature in this lovely landscape is yet unmarked: cast your eye, reader, toward the foot of yonder western barrier; there rolls a river, so exquisitely pure and placid, that it resembles a burnished mirror ; it is, however, partially hidden from our view by the elms and sycamores which fringe its margin, and immediately opposite to us its channel is divided by an island. How soft and verdant ! The muses, and the graces, yea, and goddesses too, might be well content with grottoes on that green and quiet spot. I fancy that, of a calm evening, we might hear at this distance — perhaps we might — the murmuring of the stream where it is broken by the upper point of the island ; and then, in addition to this exhibition of Nature's taste in penciling, we should have a pretty specimen of her skill in music.

That river, reader, is the Susquehannah, and I doubt me much if in all this wide world the lord of day lookn down upon a stream which reflects back his glory more clearly than does this beautifcl daughter of the Otsego lake. I have threaded its shores in all their windings, from where it issues from the aforesaid lake among the hills, to where it blends its translucent waters with the briny billows of the Chesapeake bay ; and nowhere, methinks, within equal limits, has beauty, in its softer forms, consecrated to itself a greater number of dwelling places : its bordering hills present every conceivable variety of aspect ; now they incline in grassy or arable slopes ; anon they tower in perpendicular or beetling ledges ; nere they sweep away in graceful curves a mile or more from its verge, leaving space for broad tracts of level and rich alluvion ; and ctoere they run for miles along the river's b*:nk, and mirror their doge forms upon its waters, as though Nature were as proud

ALIOS 8HKRWOOO. T

as other beauties are, of contemplating the reflection of her charms. I have told yoo, reader, this river's name, bat *.:ie valley itself yon must be content with knowing under the fictitious cognomen of Univkrsalia. Now let me point your attention to that schoo* house : there are two in the valley, but this to which I allude is toward its southern extremity ; it is a wooden structure, surrounded, you perceive, by a grassy plat, and shaded, almost embowered, with beautiful forest trees : it wants but to be white- washed to render it a perfect picture of the rural kind. I must give the settlers a hint of this when I next visit Univirsalia ; for pity it were that a scene so nearly perfect, should lack those little attentions which would constitute it completely so. I may add also, by the way, that in my opinion, school premises every where should be rendered as agreeable as possible ; for there the members of human society gather most of their earliest associations, and these exert no small influence upon their subsequent lives. Virtue and hap • piness not only accompany, but they also promote each other. By as much, then, as it is an object worthy of all attention to form a happy and virtaoas society, by so much is it important to commence at the fountain head, and to blend with the business of juvenile instruction as much of purity and pleasantness as powi* ble. With this digression I will close my first chapter.

Chapter II

She who teaches the school at present, in the building above do* scribed, is a youg lady from Connecticut: her stature is about the middling height, her form slender, the color of her hair and eyes a light hazel ; the latter are large and prominent, and, by their expression, say much for the sweetness and innocence of the in dwelling soul. I could tell you the true name of this young lady if I chose, but I do not choose ; and, therefore, since she must bear some name in our story, we will call her Alice Sherwood. She is not, as I have said, a native of this valley, but is an exotic, of recent transplantation from the " land of steady habits ;" and sooth to say, there blooms not in all the vale a lovelier flower than Alice, which is saying much for her, for many a lovely flower blooms there

In religion, Alice is a Calvinist of the modern stamp : of course her faith is bnt an educational one, in which her understanding has

8 PRO AND CON OF UNirERSALISM.

extremely little concern ; for what concern can the understanding of a young lady of eighteen have with the mysteries of the trinity , which represents Jehovah as being both the father and the son of himself!— -fia/tvf dqpramty-^ihe demands of the divine law against u9 to an infinite amount^ on the ground of a debt alleged to have been contracted by our progenitors, some thousands of years before we were born !-rthe satisfaction of this claim by the murder if an innocent victim — the transfer of our guilty both original and actual^ upon the head (fthe unoffending SonqfGod^~-9ind the imputation of his righteousness to creatures who have no righteousness of their own ?

These are subtleties for the brain of the metaphysical divine* but are not at all suited to the unsophisticated mind, and guile* less heart, of a young lady of eighteen*

It will be understood, then, that in describing our heroine as a Calvinist of the modern school, I mean, simply, that she adheres to that party from educational and family prepossessions. The dogmas of this, as distinguished from those of the old school, are« that God has provided in the gospel ample means to save those whom from all eternity he unchangeably determined to (2ai»fi/— that Christ shed his blood for the same class, with the certainty before him, that they could never be availed by it /—that all may be saved |f they unllf notwithstanding that none can mil to be saved but such as God has foreordained to that end, and they can do no otherwise than will it ! — ^and that the chief aggravation of the miseries of the damned, will arise from their having rejected a gospel that was never meant for them, and which it was utterly out of their power io accept ! with other matters equally sane and salutary.

Alice, nevertheless, is a good and pious girl-~for there are gooa and pious persons of every religious persuasion— either because their natural dispositions are so good as to defy the corrupting influence of a bad faith, or because they do not entertain that faith with so firm a persuasion of mind as to allow it its full weight of evil influence. However, so stands the facf, be the philosophy of it what it may ; and it is certainly better of the two to be theoretic cally wrong, and practically right, than the contrary : for if the heart be wrong, the head will easily be induced to stray with it ; whereas, if the former be right, the latter may easily be redeemed from its errors. And yet it must be confessed that many a young and innocent heart receives its earliest taint from the princi*

ALICE SHSRWOOB. •

pies which a false edacation imposes upon the andersUuuliiig. Alice had been taken seriouely to task by her sincere bat mis* taken old father, shortly previous to her leaving home, because she had commended the goodness of a certain lady of her acquaintance ** You most always bear it in mind, my dear," said old Mr. Sher« wood, ** that persons who are out of the church are in a state of fio^fire— which is a state of unmixed depraTity— -howsTer good therefore, they may seem to be, they are in fact Til.e and abomina ble : they cannot think a good thought, nor do a good act— «nd their deeds which seem to be good are but * deceitful workings,' and are more detestable in the diTine sight, as being the offspring of hypocrisy, than are cTcn those that we would pronounce evil Beware, then, of looking to the unregeneraU for any thing truly virtuous ; yon will be deceived with specious appearances, but will never find what yon seek ; * for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one ;'— 4he virtues of the unconverted will be but as millstones around their necks to sink them the deeper under the waves of divine wrath." ** But my dear father," enquired Alice, *' is it not possible for a person to be pure and upright, and as such, acceptable to our Creator, even though without reli« gion in our sense of the term t" '* In our sense of ike term P* some* what impatiently retorted Mr. Sherwood ; '* I tell you, Alice, that there is no other true sense of the term, but that which you are pleased to characterize as ours / and if a person be without religion in ifUs sense, then is he without it in any sense— his heart is rank in rebellion against Jehovah, and he would, were it possible, tear him from his throne. Talk not to me, then, of the goodness of nnregenerated man ; * there is no soundness in him,' but * from ihe^rown of the head to the sole of the foot, he is nothing but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.' "

Such are the dark principles of theology in which our heroine was educated — principles which, had they taken root in her mind, would have driven thence all its native benevolence, and with their sombre shadows roust have darkened her vision to all that is fair and beautiful in life : happily for her they found not a congenial soil in her nature ; and, consequently, although they perplexed her understanding, they failed of corrupting, in any great degree, that pure fountain whence principally the streams which saddeo or gladden existence have their source— the heart.

10 PBO AND CON OP UNIYXBaALISM.

Chapter III

One of the most beautiful features of Christianity— not, alas ! as it commonly exists in the practice of its professed disciples, but as taught by its author— is the spirit of kindness and forbearance it enjoins toward those who differ from us in faith and principles. *' If ye salute your brethren only," saith Christ, *' what do ye mora than others 1 for even the publicans do the same." And the moral of that affecting story of the man who fell among thieves, manifestly is, that all are to be considered as our neighbors who stand in need of our services, that good Samaritan-like we must not stop to en« quire whether the claimants upon our sympathies be Jew or Gentile, but must do good to all, without distinction of nation or sect.

Alice Sherwood had not been accustomed to exhibitions of this spirit, although her whole life had been spent in the bosom of reli* gious society ; for even the ehriatian charities of the present age are but too much confined within party limits, and are exceedingly selfish and calculating. She had been wont to hear denounced bm heretics, all who withheld assent to the dogmas of her faith, how« ever distinguished they might be for uprightness and amiability of character. One of her first impressions, therefore, relative to the people amongst whom she is now sojourning, was, that as they were perfectly tolerant toward persons of all religious opinions, it was not possible that they possessed any religious opinions of their own. But see— she is at this moment engaged in writing to her parents— we can take the liberty of peeping over her shoul« ders, and of thus satisfying to the full our curiosity as to all these matters. With motives so laudable, it will be no trespass against politeness, I trust.

***♦•• Having described to you the situation of my school, I proceed, my dear parents, to acquaint you with other circumstances connected with my condition here. And first, I am almost wholly deprived of access to the outward means of grace. There is no church of our persuasion short of a distance of four miles from my residence, and even it is on the other shore of the river, in a delightful village called the point. The expense of ferriage thither and back is incurred each time I attend it, and there is about a mile of the way called thb narrows, which ia

ALICB 8HKRW00D. 11

Cffteo nnsafe : it lies between abrupt ledges of rook and the water's edge, and the road is scarcely of sa^cient width to admit the passage of a vehicle. I seldom think of sarmounting these difficoities to attend worship there. As to the people here, they are nearly all of one religion, and that a new kind to me. In moral and mtcial respects, however, they are all that I could wish them to be. I have found very intimate companions in two young ladies— they are both very thorough subjects of this new fiiith, and very seal* OQS in its propagation. I must do them the justice to say, that in my opinion, no good cause could fail of gaining by their advocacy. The one is about my own height and age, and is a very impeno' nation of mildness and sweetness of disposition. An angel sent from heaven to soothe a wounded spirit, might borrow her Toice and accents with advantage. The other is somewhat her superior in years, and likewise in those accomplishments which are the result of cultivation. She seems also to surpass her companion in religious zeal, from the fact that her natural temperament is more ardent : her peculiar Tiews in theology are with her a fayorite topic of conversation, and her language is oAen marked with mncli felicity of expression.

*' I supposed, till I had been several weeks with this people, that they had discarded religion in every form ; for I had witnessed , amongst them no acts of devotion, nor did their external appear* ance or bearing indicate piety, according to my ideas of it.

** On one fine evening, after school, I was enjoying a ramble on the mountain which forms the eastern boundary of this beautiful vale — I had reached a point in the obscure path I was pursuing where it emerges from a thicket of sumachs, when I was startled at finding myself very close to an aged man, who was seated on the ground, apparently so occupied with his own thoughts as to be unconscious of my approach : I soon, however, regained selfpossession, when I had scanned his venerable appearance, and catching his eye at length, had read its intellectual and benign eiepression ; besides, I had seen him before, and knew him to be a highly respectable old gentleman, and looked up to by the settlers as a kind of patriarchal head. He greeted me with much courtesy, and motioned me to take a seat on a moss-covered fragment of Tock opposite to him, which, as I was short of breath from toiHng up the ragged acclivity, I was sufficiently inclined to do.

19 PRO AND con or VNirERBALlSIf •

*' ' I have been indulging, for perhaps the last time on earth.' said the old Squire, (for by such familiar cognomen is he known in these Darts,) * in an evening survey of the wonderfully varied works of our Creator : the scriptures are certainly correct in affirming, * he bath made every thing beautiful in his time,' nor beautiful only for they speak forth to the distrusting heart of man the most intel ligible assurances of his Maker's infinite loving-kindness. With all their grandeur and glory, they nevertheless but faintly shadow f<Mrth his wisdom and benevolence. The poet's deduction is Just ;

' Thus wondrous fair, thyself how wondrous then 1 Unspeakable, who dwellest in highest heaven. To us invisible^ or dimly seen In these thy lower works.'

*' * When I was a child,' says Paul, * I thought as a child.' I remember that when a lad I used to think the whole world was <lomprised between these parallel ridges. How great was my Mrprise when I first ascended to where we now are sitting, and beheld range behind range in apparently interminable continuity. I used to set bounds to the goodness of God from the same prin* ciple. My religious education had prescribed for me but a narrow fange of intellectual vision. I supposed that the sun of his mercy arose and set within that contracted horizon — ^but, ' when I be* came a man I put away childish things,' and for many years have calmly rested in the persuasion, that the divine benevolence is as immeasurable as spdce, and as all-embracing ; which blessed trust has been the light of my spirit in my darker hours, and continues to be so still as the day-star of my life is setting.'

** I expressed my surprise at his utterance of these pious senti* ments, * in as much,' said I, * as I have concluded with confidence that there is no religion amongst you— you certainly never pray, and ' * Pardon me,' interrupted he, * how came you by the certain knowledge that we never pray V * I infer it,' was my answer, * from the fact that I never either saw or heard you so engaged.' * Not the most logical inference in the world, my fair friend,' he rejoined, * since many things are constantly transpiring around you which you neither see nor hear. Moreover, the religion of Christ courts not the eye nor the ear of man — it is modest, and is content with being visible in its effects. To see or hear us pray, therefore, woold be to detect ns in a flagrant violation of the

ALIOS SHIBWOOD. !•

gospel command ; ' When thou piByesty enter into thy eloeet, tnd when thou hast shut the door, then pray to thy Father whieh is is secret,' etc. Have yon, young lady, been so secnstomed to sa infraction of this express precept, that its Tery obserraoce on ooi part is deemed evidence that we are irreligioos V

'* My dear parents, what could I reply to this % I felt it, indeed, to be a thrust that there was no possibility of parrying. So, abandoning this ground, I attempted to sustain my impeachment apon another. *How is it, sir,' I inquired, *that I obssnrs among you none of those anxietia that are usual to pious persons t Your people exhibit no solemn feelings with regard to death and eternity— they have no concern about the preparation requisite to stand in the awful presence of their Maker. Does not this evinos their destitution of piety I*

*' T wish you could hare witnessed the surprise which these Inquiries elicited. He surveyed me in silence for a time, but with a most placid expression of countenance. * Can it then be possi* ble !' he at length exclaimed, * that a freedom from ditirusis in the goodness of heaven exposes to the charge of being withoot religion ? — for rest assured, young lady, that the anaeieiiu and awful feelings^ of which you speak, can be no otherwise rationally interpreted, than as evincing a want of confidence in God. Let me put the case to you? own private experience. You are at present far from the home of your parents — suppose that the time for your return were at hand, would your mind be affected with anxieties, lest, for want of certain preparations, they might spurn you from their presence t or would you indulge in anticipations of delight, that the moment was near that would find you enfolded in their arms, and your heart cheered with their benedictions V ' I should, certainly,' said I, * be affected in the latter way, but—' * Pardon me once more,' he replied, *that but comprises the whole difficulty. Your trust in your Father in heaven is not equal to that in your parents on earth. That is the sum of the matter — ^your religious education is to blame for this ; yon have been accustomed to a class of religionists whose confidence in heaven's love is as weak as your own. You now, however, have found a different people ; we trust that the Being who made ns, is able, and as willing as able, to take care of us ; he clothes the lily— -he feeds the sparrow — and why should we not be equally B

14 PBO AMD OON OP nNIYERSALISX.

tbe sobjects of his providence t But see, my young friend, it it time we were on our way down the mountain, for one half of the •un*8 disk is already below the western horizon.*

** The above conversation, my dear parents, is but an outline ot that which took place betwixt the old Squire and myself; he is very prolix in discourse, but his ideas are strikingly just, and his arguments forcible. Whether it be from the influence of religion, or philosophy, or both combined, I know not, but so it is that he maintains with admirable composure his position on that awful line, where the territory of time unites with that of eternity.

** I will close this letter with some remarks as to our co-religionists in this region. Either they are much below the same class in Connecticut, in sincerity, moderation, and courtesy, or the veil uf partiality, through which I may have been accustomed to see them, has been removed ; for cretain it is, that in respect to these indispensable christian graces, they compare very disadvantageously with the people of this valley, which is a pity, too, for the latter are despised by them, and denounced as heretics. But why herety should be invested with such fascinations of candor, chris* tian charity, and purity of life, while what is termed truth, is often found associated with moroseness and intolerance, is, dear parents, a sad puzzle to Your affectionate daughter, Alioz."

I must inform you, reader, that the latter member of the above alternative expresses the truth. Alice's co-religionists on the POINT are, I suspect, as good as the same class in Connecticut, or any w Mere else ; but the mind of our heroine had undergone a gradual change—her partialities were in some degree removed, and her perceptions were in consequence less clouded. She now saw many things in the conduct of those denominated saints, which shocked her ideas of propriety, and led her to inquire within her« self, '* Is it possible that Connecticut christians would act thus !** Simple hearted girl ! she will find before she dies that evil princi* pies of religion, in all climes alike, exert an evil moral influence

Chapter IV

Well, a month has elapsed since the epistle was written which oecnpiet so much of the foregoing chapter: as the humble

ALICB 8HKRW00D. 10

chronicler W^CTents in which oar heroine is concerned, I most record what has transpired within the time ; especially as th« material required for the completion of onr history is to be drawn principally from the incidents of that month*

Be it known, then, that in the early part of it, the good folk on TRs POINT held a religious meeting of twelve days' continuance : Alice attended it throughout, suspending her school for the purpose, a usual thing on such occasions— not with regard to schools merely, but also to most of the ordinary operations of life— and whilst the class of religionists who have recourse to this measure (evidently for sectarian ends,) affect to be horror-stricken at the idea of being employed in secular pursuits on the sabbath, they at the same time regard the command, '* six days shalt thou labor," with about as much respect as though it had emanated from the Spartan law-giver. So much for puritanic consistency*

Alice had fresh occasions, during this meeting, for observing how much a comparison between the people of her own church* and those of Universalia, resulted in favor of the latter. Old Mrs, Matthews, a resident on the point, with whom she tarried during the twelve days, was of the latter class ; she rendered our heroine every friendly attention, and afforded her every facility in her power for attending upon all the services. She even accompanied her, when she could do so consistently with her domestic duties, although, in carrying her civility so far, she subjected herself to the necessity of frequently hearing the doctrines she cherished, together with the believers in them, made the subjects of violent invective and misrepresentation. '^ Never mind it, my dear Mrs. Matthew8,"»Alice would say on the way from church, •' I cannot think our preachers in Connecticut vould thus decry their christian neighbors without the slightest reason or provocation." ** Nor would they here," the old lady would calmly reply, •• if they deemed that their own faith, or morals, would endure a candid comparison with those of the people they denounce."

Mrs. Matthews had a hired girl, who was a member of the church on the point, and quite a zealot too in that way : had she possessed as much brain as piety it would have been well enough with her ; but, as it was, her zeal was constantly running away with the little sense she had ; althotlgh a very poor girl, and her moiher a widow in extremely indigent circumstances, she could

16 PRO AlTD CON OP UKITEBSALISM

Dot forego, on the present occasion, thfi attending upon every ser vice of the meeting ; she entered into a compact with the old lady. by which her wages were to be suspended for the twelve days during which she was 'to have the privilege of attending at three preachings and two prayer meetings each day, and to receive her board for such little service about hoase as she could render in the intervals. ** If yon were in unison with me in religious opinions, Bridget," said old Mrs. Matthews, very mildly, ** I should feel it my duty to control yon in this mattei, for your own and poor mother's interests ; as it is, however, it would not fail, were I to interfere, to be ascribed to unworthy motives."

That the heart of Bridget Bounce (for so was she named) was profited by these religious exercises, is possible ; whether her undentanding was improved, or her scanty stock of information enlarged, is a matter of much doubt. At the conclusion of the last day's services, Bridget returned home excessively elated in mind. '* Oh, Mrs. Matthews !*' she exclaimed, ** I do wish you had heard Mr. F— , to^ay ! If he ain't a dear man there never was one !" " Why, what did he preach about t" inquired the old lady. •* Oh, I don't know exactly," answered Bridget, ** but it was something about getting religion, I believe." ** Can you tell me where he found his text 1" inquired the old lady again. ** La, suz !" exelaimed the somewhat puzzled Miss Bounce, **I don't mind now whether it was in the fore eend of the bible, or the hind eend, but I i>xpect it was somewhere in the book of Paul." ^\ You have the advantage of better eyes than mine, Bridget," Mrs. Matthews drily retorted, ** if you can find the book of Paul in the bible, either in the beginning, ending, or middle.