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bly more profitable for you to go there than to stay with us。〃 And； again； the rolling… collared clergyman might be expected to say to this or that uneasy listener： 〃You are longing for a church which will settle your beliefs for you； and relieve you to a great extent from the task； to which you seem to be unequal； of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling。 Go over the way to Brother C。's or Brother D。's； your spine is weak； and they will furnish you a back…board which will keep you straight and make you comfortable。〃 Patients are not the property of their physicians； nor parishioners of their ministers。
As for the children of clergymen； the presumption is that they will adhere to the general belief professed by their fathers。 But they do not lose their birthright or their individuality； and have the world all before them to choose their creed from； like other persons。 They are sometimes called to account for attacking the dogmas they are supposed to have heard preached from their childhood。 They cannot defend themselves； for various good reasons。 If they did； one would have to say he got more preaching than was good for him； and came at last to feel about sermons and their doctrines as confectioners' children do about candy。 Another would have to own that he got his religious belief； not from his father； but from his mother。 That would account for a great deal； for the milk in a woman's veins sweetens； or at least； dilutes an acrid doctrine； as the blood of the motherly cow softens the virulence of small…pox； so that its mark survives only as the seal of immunity。 Another would plead atavism； and say he got his religious instincts from his great…grandfather； as some do their complexion or their temper。 Others would be compelled to confess that the belief of a wife or a sister had displaced that which they naturally inherited。 No man can be expected to go thus into the details of his family history； and； therefore； it is an ill… bred and indecent thing to fling a man's father's creed in his face； as if he had broken the fifth commandment in thinking for himself in the light of a new generation。 Common delicacy would prevent him from saying that he did not get his faith from his father； but from somebody else； perhaps from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice； like the young man whom the Apostle cautioned against total abstinence。
It is always the right； and may sometimes be the duty； of the layman to call the attention of the clergy to the short…comings and errors； not only of their own time； but also of the preceding generations； of which they are the intellectual and moral product。 This is especially true when the authority of great names is fallen back upon as a defence of opinions not in themselves deserving to be upheld。 It may be very important to show that the champions of this or that set of dogmas； some of which are extinct or obsolete as beliefs； while others retain their vitality； held certain general notions which vitiated their conclusions。 And in proportion to the eminence of such champions； and the frequency with which their names are appealed to as a bulwark of any particular creed or set of doctrines； is it urgent to show into what obliquities or extravagances or contradictions of thought they have been betrayed。
In summing up the religious history of New England； it would be just and proper to show the agency of the Mathers； father and son； in the witchcraft delusion。 It would be quite fair to plead in their behalf the common beliefs of their time。 It would be an extenuation of their acts that； not many years before； the great and good magistrate； Sir Matthew Hale； had sanctioned the conviction of prisoners accused of witchcraft。 To fall back on the errors of the time is very proper when we are trying our predecessors in foro conscientace： The houses they dwelt in may have had some weak or decayed beams and rafters； but they served for their shelter； at any rate。 It is quite another matter when those rotten timbers are used in holding up the roofs over our own heads。 Still more； if one of our ancestors built on an unsafe or an unwholesome foundation； the best thing we can do is to leave it and persuade others to leave it if we can。 And if we refer to him as a precedent； it must be as a warning and not as a guide。
Such was the reason of the present writer's taking up the writings of Jonathan Edwards for examination in a recent essay。 The 〃Edwardsian〃 theology is still recognized as a power in and beyond the denomination to which he belonged。 One or more churches bear his name； and it is thrown into the scale of theological belief as if it added great strength to the party which claims him。 That he was a man of extraordinary endowments and deep spiritual nature was not questioned； nor that be was a most acute reasoner； who could unfold a proposition into its consequences as patiently； as convincingly； as a palaeontologist extorts its confession from a fossil fragment。 But it was maintained that so many dehumanizing ideas were mixed up with his conceptions of man； and so many diabolizing attributes embodied in his imagination of the Deity； that his system of beliefs was tainted throughout by them； and that the fact of his being so remarkable a logician recoiled on the premises which pointed his inexorable syllogisms to such revolting conclusions。 When he presents us a God； in whose sight children； with certain not too frequent exceptions； 〃are young vipers； and are infinitely more hateful than vipers；〃 when he gives the most frightful detailed description of infinite and endless tortures which it drives men and women mad to think of prepared for 〃the bulk of mankind；〃 when he cruelly pictures a future in which parents are to sing hallelujahs of praise as they see their children driven into the furnace； where they are to lie 〃roasting〃 forever；we have a right to say that the man who held such beliefs and indulged in such imaginations and expressions is a burden and not a support in reference to the creed with which his name is associated。 What heathenism has ever approached the horrors of this conception of human destiny？ It is not an abuse of language to apply to such a system of beliefs the name of Christian pessimism。
If these and similar doctrines are so generally discredited as some appear to think； we might expect to see the change showing itself in catechisms and confessions of faith； to hear the joyful news of relief from its horrors in all our churches； and no longer to read in the newspapers of ministers rejected or put on trial for heresy because they could not accept the most dreadful of these doctrines。 Whether this be so or not； it must be owned that the name of Jonathan Edwards does at this day carry a certain authority with it for many persons； so that anything he believed gains for them some degree of probability from that circumstance。 It would； therefore； be of much interest to know whether he was trustworthy in his theological speculations； and whether he ever changed his belief with reference to any of the great questions above alluded to。
Some of our readers may remember a story which got abroad many years ago that a certain M。