William Ellery Channing （b. 1780,d. 1842）,an eminent divine and orator,was born at Newport,R.I. He graduated from Harvard with the highest honors in 1798,and,in 1803,he was made pastor of the Federal Street Church,Boston,with which he maintained his connection until his death. Towards the close of his life,being much enfeebled,he withdrew almost entirely from his pastoral duties,and devoted himself tliterature. Dr. Channing‘s writings are published in six volumes,and are mainly devoted ttheology.
1.Religion is a social concern;for it operates powerfully on society,contributing in various ways tits stability and prosperity. Religion is not merely a private affair;the community1 is deeply interested in its diffusion2;for it is the best support of the virtues and principles,on which the social order rests. Pure and undefiled religion is tdgood;and it follows,very plainly,that if God be the Author and Friend of society,then,the recognition of him must enforce all social duty,and enlightened3 piety must give its whole strength tpublic order.
2.Few men suspect,perhaps nman comprehends,the extent of the support given by religion tevery virtue. Nman,perhaps,is aware how much our moral and social sentiments are fed from this fountain;how powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God;how palsied would be human benevolence,were there not the sense of a higher benevolence tquicken and sustain it;how suddenly the whole1Community,society at large,the public. 2 Diffusion,extension,spread.
3 Enlightened,elevated by knowledge and religion.social fabric1 would quake,and with what a fearful crash it would sink inthopeless ruin,were the ideas of a Supreme Being,of accountableness and of a future life tbe utterly erased2 from every mind.
3.And,let men thoroughly believe that they are the work and sport of chance;that nsuperior intelligence concerns itself with human affairs;that all their improvements perish forever at death;that the weak have nguardian,and the injured navenger;that there is nrecompense for sacrifices tuprightness and the public good;that an oath is unheard in heaven;that secret crimes have nwitness but the perpetrator3;that human existence has npurpose,and human virtue nunfailing friend;that this brief life is everything tus,and death is total,everlasting extinction4;once let them thoroughly abandon religion,and whcan conceive or describe the extent of the desolation which would follow?
4.We hope,perhaps,that human laws and natural sympathy would hold society together. As reasonably might we believe that were the sun quenched in the heavens,our torches would illuminate,and our fires quicken and fertilize5 the creation. What is there in human nature tawaken respect and tenderness,if man is the unprotected insect of a day? And what is he more,if atheism6 be true?
5.Erase all thought and fear of God from a community,and selfishness and sensuality7 would absorb the whole man. Appetite,knowing nrestraint,and suffering,having nsolace or hope,would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws. Virtue,duty,principle,would be mocked and spurned as unmeaning sounds. A sordid self- interest would supplant every feeling;and man would become,in fact,what the theory in atheism declares him tbe,-a companion for brutes.1Fabric,any system composed of connected parts. 2 Erased,blotted out.3 Perpetrator,one whcommits a crime. 4Extinction,a putting an end to.5Fertilize,tmake fruitful. 6 Atheism,disbelief in God.7 Sensuality,indulgence in animal pleasure.
