in respect to little things, can produce no great harm, when actions directly criminal are not resorted to for its gratification, that, to take a quarter of an ounce from a pound of sugar, an inch from a yard of print, a "remnant" from a suit of clothes,-to ask more than the fair value for an article of merchandize, to withhold a few pence or shillings from a philanthropic institution, or to desire the wealth of others which we cannot by fair means obtain, must be faults of trivial consideration, and can produce little injury to general society. But such persons ought to consider, that the very same principle which operates in such cases, if left to its own native energies, and to operate without control from the force of human laws, would lead to all the atrocities and scenes of horror to which we have now alluded, and would, ere long, transform the world into a field of plunder, an immense charnel house, and a habitation of demons. Were its influence universal, it would destroy the happiness of rational beings, subvert the moral order of intelligent agents, both in heaven and on earth, and even sap the foundations of the throne of the Eternal. Hence, it is described in Scripture as 'THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL," and designated by the term IDOLATRY; a crime which, above all others, has a tendency to degrade the character of man, and to subvert the relations in which he stands to his fellow creatures, and to his Creator-which includes in it a comprehensive summary of wickedness, pride, falsehood, malignity, rebellion, hatred of moral excellence, and the basest ingratitude towards him "in whom we live and move, and have our being."

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Besides the more barbarous acts of plunder to which I have adverted, there are innumerable other acts in the conduct of nations and societies, flowing from the same principle, which are every day committed without a blush at their enormity and injustice. Almost the whole of our colonization system has been commenced and carried on from a principle of avarice; when the rights of independent tribes have been invaded, and their territories wrested from them without an adequate compensation. Whether we go to America or Africa, the West VOL. VI.- 3

Indies or Hindostan, or wherever colonies have been established by European nations, we shall find numerous exemplifications of the truth of this position. Instead of rendering our geographical discoveries subservient to the happiness and improvement of unenlightened tribes; we have sent out expeditions to deprive them of the property which God and nature had given them, to massacre and to hunt them as wild beasts from the face of the earth, for the purpose of acquiring plunder, and gratifying our avaricious desires. And when we have thus laid the foundation of our colonies in avarice and injustice, we have next oppressed their inhabitants by arbitrary enactments and exorbitant taxes, which have frequently led to protracted and expensive wars, in which our treasures, acquired by injustice and oppression, have been wasted, our previous riches and prosperity diminished, and our finances sometimes brought to the verge of ruin. It is thus that the Governor of the world frequently punishes the crime of avarice, by forcing it again to disgorge those riches which were unjustly acquired, and to make nations perceive, if they have any moral perceptions, their sin in their punishment. Hence when the British roused the indignation of their American Colonies, by their despotic enactments and oppressive taxations, a desolating and unnatural war ensued, which cost Britain not only many thousands of valuable lives, (about two hundred thousand in all) but no less than £139,000,000; a sum far greater than had ever been acquired from the possession of these colonies, and which might have sufficed to transform Britain into a terrestrial paradise, and to establish churches and seminaries to the utmost extent, for the diffusion of knowledge and religion among all classes of the inhabitants.

There would be no end to the illustrations of the operation of covetousness, as displayed on the general theatre of the world, were we to enter into particulars. The barbarous practices connected with piracy, or the plundering of vessels at sea, and the deeds of violence and atrocity which pirates have committed; the robberies and depredations which have been perpetrated by land, and

the horrid murders which have been committed by lawless banditti in pursuit of spoil; the cruelties exercised by Turkish Bashaws and Moorish Emperors, in squeezing from their subjects exorbitant taxes; the plundering of caravans in the desert by wandering Arabs; the savage practices of a set of men denominated wreckers; the perfidy and perjuries of spies and informers, in convicting the innocent of crimes in the hope of reward; the trepanning of soldiers and the impressment of seamen; the secret murders committed on friends and relatives in hopes of obtaining an inheritance; the treachery of executors and lawyers in betraying their trusts, in order to fill their coffers; the frauds of public officers in conducting the affairs of governments, the embezzling of public money by close corporations for the purpose of selfishness and sensuality; the oppressions which, in almost every nation, have been exercised by unprincipled and avaricious men, on the poor and destitute, the widow and the orphan; these, and hundreds of similar modes in which avarice is displayed, would require volumes to describe and record the revolting details.

SECTION II.

On the effects of covetousness, and the manner in which it has displayed itself among those who acknowledge the authority of Christianity, and profess to submit to its dictates.

When the leading facts and doctrines of Christianity were first publicly proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, those who were converted to the faith imbibed its heavenly spirit, and acted according to its holy requisitions. This was particularly manifested in their noble indifference to earthly possessions, and their anxious desire to consecrate the wealth which God had given them to purposes of Christian beneficence. So great was their admiration of the love of God, and the riches of his grace, and so elevated their hopes of heavenly felicity, that they looked down with a becoming contempt on worldly trea

sures, except in so far as they were subservient to the purposes of benevolence, and to the promoting of the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. For, we are told, that "all that believed," being inspired with mutual love and affection for each other," had all things common." Nay, to such an extent did this generous principle prevail that they who had estates or other valuable effects," sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men as every one had need." This Christian liberality and heroic indifference to the world, continued to distinguish the followers of Jesus, in a greater or less degree, during the two first centuries of the Christian era. For the sake of Him who had "redeemed them with his blood," and brought them "from darkness to marvellous light," they cheerfully parted with houses and lands, and brethren and sisters, and subjected themselves to the severest persecutions, that they might obtain "a better resurrection," and an "incorruptible inheritance." They were admonished beforehand that they were to be "betrayed by friends and brethren and kinsfolk, accused before rulers and kings, and hated of all men for his name's sake." And these premonitions were fully realized in the experience of all who professed an adherence to "the testimony of Jesus." At the instigation of the heathen priests and emperors, every species of contumely and cruelty was inflicted which the wicked ingenuity of our fallen nature could invent. Some were slain by the sword, some were whipped and scourged, after the cruel manner of the Romans, and others were roasted in the flames. were stabbed with forks of iron, some nailed to a cross, some torn by wild beasts, and others drowned in the sea, or stoned to death; some starved with hunger or killed with cold; some had their hands and tongues dissevered from their bodies, and others were wrapt in combustible garments, and fire set to them when evening came on, that they might serve like torches to dispel the darkness of the night. Hierome, in his epistle to Cromatius, observes,-"There is no day in the whole year to which the number of five thousand martyrs cannot be ascribed, except only the first day of January." So that every

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year no less than one million, eight hundred and twenty thousand Christians must have perished from the earth by the infliction of such demoniacal punishments,—and all to glut the avarice and revenge of Pagan priests and rulers. Yet the number of those men "of whom the world was not worthy," still continued to increase throughout every province of the Roman empire. They magnanimously looked down on all the wealth and splendour of this passing scene as unworthy to be compared with the glory which was about to be revealed. "They counted all things as dung in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ, for whom they had suffered the loss of all things; they knew in whom they had believed," and "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of earth, and having respect to the recompense of reward." How many members of the Christian church should we have in modern times, were they all exposed to such persecutions and tribulations! Were all professing Christians animated with such heavenly principles and affections as distinguished the primitive saints and martyrs, there would be little need to write an Essay on the evils of Covetousness, or to enforce the duty of a noble and disinterested liberality on the members of the visible church. But, alas! the gold has become dim, and the most fine gold has changed! The great majority of those called Christians, in our times, can scarcely be distinguished, in their dispositions and conduct, from civilized Pagans, and the professed men of the world, "whose god is their belly," who glory in their wealth, and "who mind earthly things."

When the Christian church began to enjoy the favour of worldly men, it was not long before many of its members began to imbibe a worldly spirit. As the wealth and honours conferred on the church increased, the heavenly zeal of its votaries diminished, and a spirit of Covelousness, and a desire for worldly honours and distinctions, began to prevail throughout all the official departments connected with Christian worship and instruction.