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he could not conscientiously have said less. Prudence, as well as inclination, dictated that he should abstain from the denunciatory style in which too many of the clergy indulged who took a stand against the government; he spoke in defence of his country and of the war.

He took for his text the words of Christ, "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." -John 18: 36. Temporal governments, he said, must be sustained by such means as were proper to that end. The kingdom of Christ required very different means to sustain it. If Jesus had been anointed a temporal prince, he would have received the right to put in motion all the springs of government against any power on earth that sought to crush him; but he was not a temporal prince, his "kingdom was not of this world.". Notwithstanding Mr. B. held that the kingdom of Christ could not be established by physical force, yet it was right for men to fight in a righteous vindication of an established supremacy, and in the necessary defence of any of their rights which might possibly be infringed. He, in the first place, attempted to illustrate from scripture, and support by reason, some of those occasions which would justify war. And, second, he applied his illustrations and arguments to the occasions which led the constituted authorities of the United States to oppose the power of Great Britain by a declaration of war. The sermon was, then, a war sermon. It maintained that there might be a state of things which justified war, and which made even war a duty; and that the war against Great Britain grew out of such circumstances. To show that war was

sometimes justifiable, he referred

to the case of Abra

ham, who put himself at the head of a small company, to deliver his brother Lot from the hands of his enemies; he referred also to the act of Esther, who obtained deliverance for her kindred, the Jews, from the awful fate devised for them by the wicked and treacherous Haman, and enabled them to defend themselves from the assaults of their enemies; he adduced, moreover, the case of David. who went out to war to recover the members of his family from captivity. These, and other passages of scripture history referred to by Mr. Ballou, convinced him, beyond a doubt, that there might be cases in which war would be justifiable.

From these considerations, he proceeded to the question whether the war in which the United States were at the time engaged was justifiable and necessary. He was clearly of the opinion that it was so. The impressment of our seamen, the interference with our commerce, the wanton shedding of blood, were acts of war which Britain perpetrated in the time of peace; and it were better that there should be an open war than that our country should suffer the most dreaded evils thereof without the opportunity of resistance.

“If Abraham, the friend of God (said the preacher) and the father of the faithful, was blessed in his return from delivering his brethren out of the hands of lawless violence, will He who holds the balances of eternal justice frown on America for resisting those multiplied outrages, committed on the persons of our brethren? To the God of Abraham we appeal; to Him we look for approbation and success in the contest."

p. 12.

Such is a very brief description of the sermon to which we have referred, and which caused no small excitement

in Portsmouth. Mr. Ballou's aim was not to administer to party strife, but to subserve justice, and to vindicate the insulted honor of his country. The political papers noticed the sermon, some with praise, and some with great rancor. None attempted to show that the main positions taken in the sermon were not sound; but the opponents of the war described it as an illiterate performance, and found fault with the metaphors and phraseology. To the Universalist society it was a decided stimulant. The friends of the national administration were gratified; but not so those of the other party. Some of the members of the society belonged to the last-named party,- some of the most influential and the most wealthy. This was not judged by Mr. Ballou as a sufficient reason why he should withhold the truth, and he could not withhold it. Some of those who took umbrage on this occasion never got over it. There is no doubt that by one part of the society he was loved more, and by others less, in consequence of this discourse. But even among the disaffected there was not a union of feeling. Some loved the society and the cause of religion above all things, and they would not persecute their pastor for the expression of his opinions, however much they regretted it. Others were more violent. They could not sit any longer with pleasure under his ministry. No immediate action, however, was taken. In the course of the next winter the anti-administration party came out in procession, under the name of the "Washington Benevolent Society." Mr. Ballou was viewing the parade, when one of the persons standing near asked him what he thought of the "Washington Benevolent Society." He replied, in a

pleasant and polite manner, that the name of the society reminded him of a passage of scripture; and, on being asked what it was, he replied that the words were these: "In that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach." Isaiah 4: 1. This fact also came to the ears of the disaffected members, and did not tend in the least to diminish the excitement. Mr. Ballou be

lieved that the use of the name of Washington, by the political association who had assumed it, was intended to avert popular odium, and was an act of injustice to the memory of that great and good man.

If we intend to form an impartial judgment in regard to this political episode in the life of Mr. Ballou, we must look at it in connection with the spirit of those times, and of the habits of the clergy in New England generally. It was a common thing, especially on Fast Days, and other days of secular appointment,- for the clergy of all sects to treat more or less on political subjects. Some of the clergy of the standing order (so called at that time), and of the Episcopalians, attacked the government in a very virulent manner. It would have been too much to expect, while this mad opposition was being carried on upon the one side, that nothing should be said in defence of the government upon the other. Mr. Ballou's sermon was exceedingly temperate, when compared with the ebullitions of such divines as Dr. Gardiner, of Boston, Dr. Morse, of Charlestown, Dr. Osgood, of Medford, and Dr. Parish, of Byfield. Others may wonder that Mr. Ballou should introduce the subject of politics at all into the

sacred desk; but those acquainted with his strong love of country and our political institutions, who will consider also how widely the government was assailed in New England by the clergy of the dominant sects, will wonder that he said so little. He was a man of strong feelings, of great boldness, who felt not a reliance upon any religious society for his support; for he could preach at large, and do equally as much good. But he unquestionably restrained his feelings, from considerations of peace and harmony in his society; and it must be acknowledged, if there were any sin or impropriety in treating on national matters in the pulpit at that period, that there were many clergymen, of high standing, who were far more to be blamed than he. But he regarded this act, let it be remembered, as an act of duty; and such acts he was not likely to neglect.

SECTION XIV.- - AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT.

It was about this time that Mr. Ballou discovered the true sense of Hebrews 9: 27, 28,-" And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Then, and for four or five years afterwards, he supposed the New Testament writers admitted the doctrine of punishment in the future state. The judgment mentioned in the passage had been invariably regarded by learned Christian divines as a judgment in that state; it is expressly said to be after the death spoken of. Mr. Ballou's attention, how

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