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    October 22, 1853.] THE LEABER, 1025

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    The Eeligio3st Of The Heart. The Religio...

    be no less barbarous in the eyes of simplicity and common sense , than in those of a philosophy the most subtle . The man unsubdued by the force of habit , and the child before he is made to take ¦ words for ideas , are equally qualified to refute some of their grayest dogmas . The very congregations- who repeat them , are compelled , from time to time , by the progress of reason , to soften the meaning of them in their own minds ; till at length a persuasion conies up , that profession , and belief are different things , and that it is necessary in this world to say one thing- and mean another ;— an insincerity , the danger of which is evident , and which has been extremely pernicious . " .

    ' Leigh Hunt , grown grey through , time and sorrow , and muck meditation , has never lost the youthfulness of heart which fits him to be a teacher both to young and old ; like Ulysses , he has " learned from what he has suffered "—e / nadey e < j > ' a > v errade—but no amount of tribulation has made him blaspheme against Life and God , by calling this a " vale of tears . " It is therefore a Religion of Cheerfulness he inculcates ; and his words should have weight , because they do not bubble up in foam of levity , but come from the very depths of sorrowing experience his cheer- , fulness is healthfullness , not levity ; it does not ignore the presence and necessity of pain , it does not evade the solemn and . serious appeals of all experience , but regarding pain as transitory , evil as the shadow of an infinitely more abundant good to which in the end it is subservient , his Ueligion is meant to comfort and sustain with hope and earnestness , not to terrify and depress with threats and lanientations .

    Let us first quote a passage far on in the volume , wherein he explains what is

    THE BELIGIOK OF THE HEAET . " And what , it may be asked , is the Heart ? Physically speaking , it is that organ of the body which , from its sensibility to emotion , has been thought the seat of the affections , and which is looked upon as their symbol and representative . Morally speaking , it is the Heart of our Spirit ; or that something within us , of which every one is more or less conscious as his innermost truth ; something which is as vital to our spiritual , as the heart bodily is to our bodily welfare ; which keeps the current of our affections warm and pure ; which directs all our faculties to their completest ends ; which makes knowledge wise and benevolence active ; and without whose entire sanction , good conscience itself is not thoroughly good , not entirely secure from self-reproach , from tyrannous mistakes and unholy transports . For though the heart , in the individual , is not always equally good and wise , no wisdom can without thorough-heartedness be thoroughly wise in any one ; can thoroughly feel all which is to be felt for all , and so give no fellow-creature a right to rebuke it .

    " Upon this innermost heart of man , God , the Great First Cause , in the mysterious graduality of his ways , imprinted those first sentiments of good and just , to grow with his growth in knowledge , and strengthen with his strength in wisdom , which , however imperfectly read by conscience for a time , were never wholly overlooked by it ; which , however forgotten or renounced by passion , have never been without some regret from passion ; and which , however confused with local or other ordinances , or refused participation in their authority , have never failed to prove their sole and exclusive divinencss , by remaining whole while the others perished , and by meeting with love and recognition in every cdrner of the earth , instead of dispute and hatred .

    ' These , then , and these alone , are the scriptures of which it can be said , that ' not one jot or one tittle can pass away ; ' these , and these alone , the texts that require no explanation and give rise to no wars and heresies , in whatever book we meet with them : and to know thus much , and abide manfully and devoutly by the knowledge , is the only religion which men can cease finally to dispute , because it is the only one that can secure brotherhood on earth , and that preaches hope , without exception , for all who die . " The ritual is very simple ; and although it is open to the objection which assails all rituals , —namely , that by repetition it may degenerate into mere form , yet , on the other hand , if no form bo given , the wandering mind has seldom a guaranteo against allowing oblivion to bury the best intentions . The daily service is as follows : — " ASlMItATION IN TlfJO MORNING .

    "Whim tho hour lias arrived in the- morning , at whieh ( , lio reader thinks it right i ' oi him ( or her ) < o get up , ho will repeat mentally and with his greatest attention ( or aloud , it a companion is agreed with him in so doing " ) the followin g words . In the latter caso , t lie personal pronoun singular will bo changed for the plural . " 1 . In the name of the Groat Beneficence , to whom bo all reverence , with u iilial trust . " 2 . My first duty thin day is to delay , or slur over , nothing which I am bound in conscience to perform . " ^\ . Tho hour haB como , at which it in therefore time for mo to rise . ' 4 . Thou , O my heart , biddest mo rise , for the sake of others as well as myself . "fi . Because on theo the Divine Spirit haH written tho lawn , which love tenches Knowledge to read :

    " 0 . And becauNo they toll me , that duty must he done , and that affection niunt bo earned by good offiocH . " 7 . May I discharge , throughout the day , every other mich duty as coimoionco enjoins mo : " '' & Beginning the day with a kind voice to otheiH ; " l > . Ami ending it with no reproach to myself . " ABVIKATTON AT NOON . " ( To bo repeated as the forgoing , and as near to ( , he hour of noon as posnihlo . ) . I - Blessed be God : blessed bo Mis beneficence , working- towards its piimoHOH m the noon . ¦ , , \? ' . ¦ "' ^ ood for mo , whether unoccupied or busy , to withdraw my thoughts wmie into a sense of my duties towards God and man ; towards tho appreciation « W" ) good and beautiful in Urn universe , and tho ililliujion of their bloHnhigH a" » ong II ., creatures .

    li The huh , glorious when tho wky in elear , glorious alno , for it gives light , wimiu UiuHlw is clouded , is the mightiest , an < l at the huhiu time l , ho most bonofiun ('(' i ° ' >« l lim vJHible creatures hi this our H ]> horo : "r * w y 0 t li > ' H luit ° ll () ° ' UI umimu > < ll ) 1 <> Htarry brotherhood : tt . What a proclamation of tlio nature of himself ! eJr ! " ? ° ™ lfcin tf ™" humanizing thoughts for ever accompany mo , making iti « < 'onhdont without pride , and modoHt without Horvility . "?• Perhaps my dearest friend in now thinking of me " H . 1 ' orlmpn more than one of my dear frioudu and kindred

    " 9 . May I ever be such as generous affection would have me ; " 10 . And may strength and happiness be theirs . ' . ' " ASPIRATION IN THE EVENING . ' ' " ( To be repeated at dusk . ) " 1 . Blessed be God : blessed be His beneficence , working towards its purposes in the evening . " 2 . The portion of the globe on which I live is rolling into darkness from the face of the sun .

    " 3 . Softly and silently it goes , with whatever swiftness . " 4 . Soft and silent are the habitual movements of nature ; " Loudly and violently as its beneficence may work , within small limi ts and in rare instances . " 6 . Let me imitate the serene habit ; " 7 . And not take on my limited foresight the . privilege of the stormy exception . " 8 . May I contribute what I can , this evening , to the peace and happiness of the house in which I live ; " 9 . Or of the fellow-creatures , anywhere , among whom I ma . y find myself .

    " ASPIEATION AT BEDTIME . v " ( To be repeated as the foregoing . ) '' 1 . Blessed be God : blessed be His beneficence , which neither sees wisdom in haste , nor has need of rest . " 2 . If I have done any wrong to-day , or fear so ; " 3 . Or if I have left any duty undone , as far as I could perform it ; " 4 . Let me not fail to make amends to-morrow . " 5 . Let me not have to repeat this wish to-morrow night . " 6 . May M . have a happy sleep : " 7 . May N . : . " 8 . May all whom I love :

    " 9 . May all who are to sleep this night . " 10 . I hope grief and pain will find respite ; " 11 . And wakefulness discover its cura " 12 . Gentle and good is darkness : " 13 . Beautiful with stars ; " 14 . Or working to some benefit of a different aspect , with clouds . " 15 . God ' s ordinance of the rolling world takes away the light at bed-time , like a parent ; " 16 * . Shall I not sleep calmly under its shadow ? " 17 . May I drop as calmly into the sleep of death ; " 18 . And wake to an eternal morning . "

    On Sunday there is a fuller service . Here are some extracts : — " DUHING- A TIME OF TROUBLE . "Peace be to this meeting . May duty and love be its support . May it strengthen itself by still giving- that comfort to others which at this moment it finds it difficult to receive . " Tears , and sorrows , and losses , are apart of what must he experienced in this present state of life : some for our manifest good , and all , therefore , it is trusted , for our good concealed ;—for our final and greatest good . " But part of our good consists in the endeavour to do sorrows away , and in the power to sustain them when the endeavour fails ; - —to bear them nobly , and thus help others to bear them as well . " Let us take care , therefore , that we do not degrade our sorrows by sullcnness and ill-temper , and that we may ever be ready to accept a kind relief . " Let us seek also rational and generous comfort ourselves ; and therefore let uk begin by bestowing it .

    " Some tears belong to us because we are unfortunate ; others , because we are humane ; many because wo art ) mortal . But most are caused by our being unwise . It is these last only that of necessity produce more . The rest dissolve into patience and hope , and may add to the sum of our blessings , by enlarging our hearts . " But so may the others , if we grow wiser . Whenever evil befalls us , we ought to ask ourselves , after the first suffering , how we can turn it into good . So shall we take occasion , from one bitter root , to raise perhaps many flowers .

    " Neither let u . s repeat this to ourselves as a , thought to be approved , but as a thing that can be done : and nover let uh forget , that , on this a . s on all other occasions , tho endeavour is half the work . Come what will , to bo weak is only to bo more miserable To be utrong is to have a double chance . The . supports of sorrow are patience , activity , and affection . May wo be strong- in ourselves : may we ho strong in loving and being beloved by one another . Lijikod with one another ' s hearts , let us bo equally prepared to present a firmer front to adversity , and to partake the dew of whatever blessing shall fall upon our hauh . "

    SKC . UKTS . " Wo must regard every matter as an entrusted secret , which wo believe tho person concerned would winli to be considered as such . Nay , further still , we must consider all circumstaneeH ; in secrets entrusted , which would bring scandal upon another if told , and which it is not our certain duty to diseuHH , iind that in our own persoiiH , and to his face . The divine rule of doing as we would be dono by , is never better put to tho tout than in matters of good and evil npuaking . We may sophisticate with ourselves upon the manner in which we should wish to ho treated , under many eiroumstaneoH ; but everybody recoils instinctively from tho thought of being upokcn ill of in liis absence . " ' ON THIS DlOATri OK ANY ON K DMA It TO TTH .

    " 1 To has gone ho fore us . The npirit within him ,-that used to talk to us , to enjoy with uh , to look at uh with kind eye ; - ; , has left itn body to dissolution , and in visible to us no longer . BleHsingH on hi ' n memory ! May he also , if ho behold hh , bless uhI for we need blessing . Greatly we need it , with these hopolc , H » yearningH for his presence ; these iinpatieneoH consfcantly reminded of tho dreadful necessity of patience ; thono fears , even in tin ) midst of eonvietion to the contrary , that we did not do all that might have boon done for him ; this consternation and astoninhment perpetually recurring , at"tho difference between what wan and what h ; — this awful experience " of tho terrible thought ' No More ; ' of the inexorable truth 'Never ; ' this almost shame al , fouling that we are warm and living , whilo ho in eold and motiouloHH ; at home and housed , while he in away and in tho earth ; Hoeing thousands Htill privileged to remain who seem of no worth , while he , ho kind and ho good is gone for ovor !

    "But these are our thoughts , nothiH ; and though they are permit tod to tho first , bimitH of our sorrow , to continue them would be undutiful towardn tho Boneficent Mystery , without whoso ordination of < Jeath an well as lifo , he hiniHolf would not have oxinted to ble . SN n » . His body in not his spirit ; and fiorliapH Iuh HpiritlookH upon um thin moment , and ween how we loved him , and how wo Buffer .

    October 22, 1853.] The Leaber, 1025

    October 22 , 1853 . ] THE LEABER , 1025

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 22, 1853, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22101853/page/17/