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SECOND LECTURE.

Causes of Infidelity among Men of Learning.

John iii. 19, 20.

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."

In our previous discourse we have called your attention to the fact that men of learning are sometimes found in the ranks of infidelity, and we have aimed to do full justice to their literary acquirements. We are hereafter to show that if the question respecting the inspiration of the Bible is to be settled by the authority of names renowned for literature in all its branches, the friends and advocates of the holy volume so far outweigh its adversaries as to put an end to controversy on the subject. But before we bring into view this splen

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did array, armed with the panoply of truth, there is an important inquiry which it may be well to answer. Admitting that men of learning, who are on the side of infidelity, are comparatively few, it may be asked, How are we to account for their avowed unbelief? Was it the fruit of their learning, or did it spring from a very different and less creditable source?

In answer I might call up one of their own number, and refer you to his testimony. The history of John, Earl of Rochester, is well known. He was an infidel to whom his friends often pointed as a star of no common brilliancy. His courage was even heroic, showing a spirit not to be influenced by any cowardly dread of death. But in his later days, when cool reflection came and conscience was allowed to speak out, wishing to undo the evil he had done by his profane scoffs against religion, he often laid his hand upon the Bible and declared, "A bad heart, a bad heart is the great objection against this Holy Book;" and most carefully did he provide for having the recantation of his infidelity authenticated, as the honest and deliberate act of a dying man. We have an account

of the change which passed upon him, written by the venerable Burnet, of which Dr. Johnson has remarked that "The critic ought to read it for its excellence, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint for its piety."

We believe the testimony of the converted Rochester to be true. It is only expressing, in other words, what our Lord teaches in the text when he says that "light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." We believe that in all cases infidelity has its rise and progress from a bad heart, not from a clear head; from enmity, not from argument against that which the Bible reveals; and when it appears among the learned, we believe that so far from showing enlargement and liberality of mind, it betrays what we may denominate, in the mildest language adapted to the case, a manifest want of sincerity and honesty in the pursuit of truth. This is a serious accusation. It should not be

lightly made, especially against men who have built up for themselves a high name in the world

of letters. It should not be allowed to rest on evidence in the least equivocal or inconclusive. The proofs should be irrefragable and obvious to every candid judge; and such is the proof we have to offer. It is taken mainly from the confessions made by the accused themselves. "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee," said his Lord to the wicked servant who had misused his talent: and this shall be our rule of judgment against men who have perverted splendid talents and great acquirements to discredit the Bible and dishonor its divine Author.

In prosecuting the subject, I know not what names can be more suitably brought forward in this connection than those to which I have already referred, as Hume, Rousseau, Voltaire and Gibbon. There can be no doubt as to the influence and position of these men in the ranks of infidelity. Their spirit was not confined to themselves. Their whole class or sect was imbued with it; and what is true of them, may be expected to hold true of those who glory in being their followers. Accordingly, it is to such men that I will chiefly refer in discussing the point now before us.

Whether happily or unhappily for their own good name, we will not say; but happily for the cause they assailed, the Memoirs of these leading infidels have been placed before the public eye; prepared too for our perusal by no unfriendly hands, but on the contrary, either by the men themselves, or by their admirers, who would be inclined to "extenuate" rather than "set down aught in malice." We have here not only the leading events of their lives, showing how surrounding circumstances may have influenced their opinions and feelings, but we have also their correspondence and conversations with friends to whom they communicated their sentiments unreservedly and fully. There is no species of history more instructive and important than such faithful portraitures of distinguished men, whether friends or enemies of truth and righteousness. It is when we see them in their unguarded moments, and in the free interchange of thought with bosom friends, that the secret springs of action are developed, and the heart becomes so unveiled as to show, not only what they have done, but why they have done it; not only what they have believed, but why they have believed it.