The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

SERMONS*7lent, he lofes the fenfe, and Ihakes ofF the profeflion ofit. This certainly is oftentimes the cafe : nay, as irreligionis an ordinary appendage of riches, there maybe fome poor enough, and yet fo vain as to throw oflthe air of religion, merely that they may be reputedrich.I do not afFirm that the country in general is in aneafy and opulent ftate : no. The inequality amongmenis increafed, and mifery is increafed and multipliedin proportion. A few are enriched and livein fplendour ; many are in ftraits, llriving to live a-bove their circumftances *, many are benumbed withconftant drudgery and fevere toil ;their heavy labourand anxiety operate upon them, not like a temporaryaffliction, but render their minds grofs, ftupid, andmaterial. Sometimes borne down by the rich, andalways by the wretchednefsof their condition, theyare as the *' Afs that coucheth down between twoburdens." Their fpirits are deprefTed, and nailed andfixed, as it v/ere, to the earth : many of them haveno fenfe of religion, and as little appearance of it.And as the rich and great forfake religion, the middleand -lower clafTes of mankind follow them, andare gradually Aiding into the fame profanenefs. Theyare the nobles, they are the great and opulent, wholead the fiifhions of the world j they keep religion inrepute when they appear to have it ; they leave it tobe thought a mean and vulgar thing when they forfakeit. To a great many of the ordinary people, theirvery blemilhes appear amiable, their vices refpe^lable,and their impiety excufable, or worthy of imitation :fo that, in various ways, riches are the caufe or occafionof irreligion. We have hiftories of the courfeof trade and commerce, and many diredlions how toget rich ; but had we a moral hiitory of riches, thatis, of the effe£ls that they invariably produce upon'jtthe benevolente and devotion of mankind, I am perfuadedwc would have fet before our eyes a rnore dark