own influence by dissension, by mutual distrust and jealousy? Instead of coming, in the spirit of harmony and brotherly love, to the help of the Lord, shall they misrepresent, and disparage, and reproach one another? Shall they waste their time on questions of doubtful solution-points of a merely philosophical character, respecting which the Holy Ghost has not deigned to teach us?

The people of God in this country ought to consider these sentiments as applying to themselves, in all their force. To every enlightened friend of the Redecmer it must be most interesting and delightful to contemplate what God has done for the church in this western world, and the high destiny to which she seems to be called. To American Christians it is believed is assigned, in the purposes of heaven, much of the honor of that moral renovation of the human family, which is ere long to be experienced. A little less than a century since, the immortal Edwards employed his mighty mind, in attempting to show the probability that the millenium would commence in our country. Whether or not this opinion is well founded, there can be no doubt that Christians in America may have a share in the high honor of diffusing the blessings of that happy period throughout the globe. It is a momentous question-one which ought to come home to every heart that feels the love of God-whether their share in this honor shall be great or small. One or the other it will unquestionably be, very much in proportion as they are influenced by the instruction and the spirit of our text. Could I raise my feeble voice to a note which might be heard throughout the length and breadth of the land, I would urge on every saint, that love to all the household of faith, by which the Savior has taught us that his disciples shall be known; I would say to him, Brother, as you love the Savior, as you desire to see his glories spread around the world, and the souls of men redeemed from hell, take heed that, whenever you meet an individual bearing his image, by what name soever he may be called, you embrace him in the arms of Christian affection, and be ready to co-operate with him in every good work. Too long has the church crippled her own energies, and retarded her growth, by mutual dissension and the spirit of party. As the brightness of a more glorious day begins to dawn upon her, O let this spirit cease, and its place be occupied by that love which seeketh not her own.

That all who constitute the visible family of Christ, should at present be united in one denomination, is neither to be expected nor desired. This would be a wide departure from the natural result of that freedom of opinion, which so happily exists in our country. It surely can be no cause of surprise nor of grief, that among men of truly devout minds there should be diversities of opinion on unessential points of doctrine and practice. Nor is it to be lamented, that these diversities have led to the organization of the community of the faithful under different names. But at this day, so interesting, so auspicious to the best interests of man, and in this country, so favored of heaven, so richly furnished with means of blessing the whole human family, let none of these things produce dissension, distrust, or alienation among the people of God. This shall be our prayer. And as the chariot of salvation rolls onward, and its motion is more and more accelerated by the breath of the Spirit, we believe the time is fast drawing near, when Ephraim shall no longer envy Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim; when there shall be one Lord, and his name one; and when in all God's holy mountain there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy. AMEN.

NATIONAL PREACHER.

No. 10. VOL. 8.] NEW-YORK, MARCH, 1834. [WHOLE No. 94.

SERMONS CLXIII & CLXIV.

BY

REV. EDWARD HITCHCOCK,

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND NATURAL HISTORY, IN AMHERST COLLEGE.

NATURE OF INTEMPERANCE IN EATING.

JUDE 12-Feeding themselves without fear.

In no way has intemperance made so many conquests as by concealing its true character. Not long since; it was almost universally supposed that the habitual use of ardent spirit, in moderate quantity, was consistent with strict temperance. And even yet, multitudes hug the murderous delusion. A still greater number would regard it extravagant to say, what is undoubtedly true, that any use of this substance, except in sickness, is intemperance. For if excess of any kind constitute intemperance, is it not intemperance to introduce into the system, that which, in the least quantity, is injurious; and which is as really a poison, as arsenic ?

Still more erroneous is public opinion respecting the nature of intemperance in eating. Though it be at this moment almost universally prevalent, and much more destructive of health, happiness, and life, than ardent spirit; yet so insensible are the community to its existence, that even the word intemperance has come to signify excess in drinking merely; as if no other kind of intemperance were deserving of notice. And multitudes even of the most conscientious, are daily guilty of gross excess in the use of food, without the slightest apprehension that they are.infringing at all upon any of the rules of temperance. Like the abandoned deceivers mentioned by Jude, they feed themselves without fear; not, indeed, because they are destitute of religious principle, but because they have no distinct apprehensions of the nature of this kind of intemperance. It is extremely desirable that definite and correct principles on this subject should take the place of those loose and inadequate views that now so generally prevail. For of what use is it to have all men approve of temperance, while nearly all are intemperate in practice? To call things by their right names, is a most important step in every attempt at VOL. VIII.-10

reformation. What a magical influence has it exerted in respect to ardent spirit, to have proved that it is poison; and that, therefore, its habitual, even though moderate use, is intemperance? True, it is not so easy to draw the line between temperance and excess in food, as in alcoholic drinks; because we cannot engrave total abstinence upon the former, as upon the latter. Still, let us not despair of being able to mark the limits of temperance in respect to food. For if God has commanded us to practice it, he has doubtless given us the means of ascertaining the precise nature of our duty.

I. In the first place, it is intemperance to consume a greater quantity of food than is necessary to give the most perfect and permanent health, and the greatest amount of vigor to the body and the mind.

This proposition will probably commend itself at once to every unprejudiced mind. For what appears to have been the principal design of Providence in furnishing us with organs of digestion ?-What, but to furnish the body and the mind with the most perfect health and vigor? True, there is connected with the process no small degree of gratification; and hence some have foolishly presumed it was the intention of Providence that man should indulge his appetite beyond what mere health and strength demand, for the sake of the pleasure. But the real fact is, that this cannot be done without diminishing the pleasure. For all such extra gratification of the appetite deranges more or less those organs that are the seat of the pleasure; and hence, although the gratification may be for a moment heightened, it is in turn proportionably diminished. In other words, an appetite more or less artificial is thus created; and this is always liable to morbid obtuseness, as well as morbid acuteness, whilst a natural, unsophisticated appetite, affords uniform and permanent pleasure. It is a fair inference, therefore, that the amount of food, which nature alone demands for repairing her wastes and invigorating the bodily and intellectual powers, will afford a greater amount of unmixed gratification than a larger quantity.

This reasoning has been amply confirmed by the testimony of numbers in every age. For amid the general excess that has at all times prevailed, individuals have adopted the rule given above. Most of the ancient philosophers, particularly the Pythagoreans, were indebted in a great measure to their moderation in food and drink, for their health, serenity, and long life. Many of the early Christians lived long and happy, although in banishment, upon an allowance of but twelve ounces of bread a day, and only water for drink. In more modern times, individuals in every condition of life, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, clergymen and laymen, physicians and philosophers, have added their testimony to that of antiquity, in respect to the happy influence of strict temperance. There is no dissenting voice to the conclusion, that the nearer they have come in the quantity of their food to the amount requisite for the most

perfect bodily and mental health, the greater has been their enjoyment, even of the pleasures of the table. This will sound paradoxical in the ears of one addicted to excess. But he has only to make the experiment faithfully, to be prepared to add his testimony to that of others. Some, by imperfectly, and partially, and hesitatingly trying the experiment, have come to a different conclusion. But had they prosecuted it long enough to bring back their appetites, in any degree, to a natural state; long enough to have acquired a relish for the pleasures of temperance, their voices would have mingled in the praises of that system, which forbids the stomach to be called to any labor not necessary to health and strength.

Again a larger quantity of food than the health and strength demand, will produce a disproportionate exercise and development of the bodily and mental powers. God has given to the human constitution a remarkable power of conforming itself to circumstances; and thus, of sustaining, with far less injury than might be anticipated, the vicissitudes to which it is exposed. Hence it is, that men of intemperate habits, in respect to food, drink, or employment, not unfrequently hold out beyond all expectation; and their cases excite in many minds a suspicion, that such habits are far less injurious than is generally represented. But how is it that the system is able thus to sustain itself amid these injurious influences? One method is, by the production of a disproportionate strength and developement in the organ that is most severely tasked, at the expense of the other organs; or, in the language of the apostle, God hath tempered the body together—that the members should have the same care one for another. This curious sympathy induces all the members to lend a portion of their strength to any one of their number, that has more labor to perform than the rest. The consequence is, that the organ thus assisted, will acquire an increase of ability for its appropriate work, while the others will be proportionably weakened. Thus, if we require the stomach to digest more food than health and strength demand, that organ will lay a tax upon its fellows, for the additional power requisite for the increased labor: and if the additional burden continue to be imposed, the stomach will acquire a permanent power of sustaining it, by proportionably weakening the other organs. A person has only to observe his feelings after a hearty meal, to have a fair illustration of this principle. He finds himself indisposed to effort; his senses become less acute; and a disposition to sleep succeeds; just because the muscles, the senses, and the brain, have suspended their activity, in order to lend assistance to the overloaded digestive organs. And not until the stomach is relieved by their aid, can they resume their own proper work. And since the operations of the mind are dependent on the state of the senses and the brain, it is obvious that the intellectual faculties must be injured by having their re sources thus called off to help the overloaded stomach. Accordingly we

find, that most men, after a hearty meal, are almost entirely disqualified for vigorous mental application. And if, at such a time, either the muscles, the senses, or the mind are roused by extraordinary effort to labor, digestion is in a great measure suspended, and the whole system receives an injury.

Now to say nothing of the ultimate effect upon the health of this disproportionate exercise and developement of the different organs and powers, who can believe, that it does not mar the human character? For does not the perfection of that character consist in a just and proportionate cultivation and exhibition of all the bodily and mental powers? At least, can we believe that God gave to the human system this wonderful power of adapting itself to the exigencies of its condition, in order that the nobler faculties should be impoverished to give the digestive energies a predominance which neither health nor strength require? What is this but to make the higher part of our nature a slave to the inferior? to live in order to eat, instead of eating to live? We see how gross and debasing this principle is, when exhibited in the shameless glutton, whose whole bodily and mental energies are made the mere panders of his stomach. But if the foregoing reasoning be correct, I see not why the least addition to the quantity of food needful to health and strength, does not lay a tax to the amount of the excess, upon the organs and powers thus called upon to aid the stomach. Admit that a larger quantity of food may not at once impair the health perceptibly; yet it cannot be indulged in without diminishing the bodily energy, and intellectual clearness and strength. God never intended that such a sacrifice as this should be made to a bodily appetite. It is gross sin, therefore, to make it.

But not unfrequently the man whose diet is of the richest and most stimulating kind, and who follows no rule as to quantity but the demands of hunger, enjoys vigorous health, and a fullness and energy of muscle, unknown to the cautious observer of dietetic rules.

Here is exhibited another method by which the animal system adapts itself to peculiar circumstances. All the bodily organs may, indeed, be more fully developed in this way; but not without shortening the duration of life. The stimulus of rich food in large quantity, urges on all the powers of life with accelerated steps: but the effect will be to wear them out the sooner; and hence it is, that men of this description, whose constitutions seem capable for a while of resisting almost every thing injurious, whose frames are athletic, and whose conntenances are flushed with health, fail at length so suddenly and so early. Can it be, that God intended man should thus prematurely exhaust his energies, when the only advantage would be, a short-lived vigor, which, even if more favorable to physical efforts, must ever be a clog to the mental operations? Is it not obviously a needless waste of those precious energies, with which the human constitution is endowed for sustaining itself in unavoidable and