THE NATIONAL FAST.

A SERMON

PREACHED BY

THE REV. C. F. CHASE, B.A.,

IN THE

PARISH CHURCH OF SAPCOTE, LEICESTERSHIRE,

MARCH 24, 1847.

"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”—Luke xiii. 5.

I SHALL not think it necessary to dwell upon the explanation of this passage and its contents, which have been brought before you in the Gospel for the day. My object will rather be to speak of the occasion which calls us here together; that so, by God's grace, I may help to the right observance of this solemn season. May the Lord, the Spirit of truth, who alone convinceth the world of sin, be present among us, to carry home, with Divine power, whatsoever shall be said according to His revealed will, for Christ's sake. Amen.

The words of the text were uttered by our blessed Saviour in reference to two awful manifestations of the Divine anger, and which were these: the slaughter, by Pilate, of some who were engaged in the very act of sacrificing; and the fall of the tower of Siloam, by which eighteen other persons were suddenly cut off. The Saviour would teach us how to improve such events. They are not matter for idle conversation; for speculating as to the amount of sins which caused them; nor for foolish selfflattery, as though we have not provoked the like visitations. But since they undoubtedly indicate the displeasure of God

against sinners, they are rather awakening calls to those who witness and hear of them, for self-examination and repentance. Here, then, are brought before us three main points for consideration. A heavy judgment; Sin, as the cause of the judg ment; and Repentance as the way to escape the like visitations. In pursuance, therefore, of my present purpose, I will proceed at once to speak of our own case at this particular time, by calling your attention to these three points.

The judgment, under which we are suffering.

The sin which causes it; and

The way of escape from it.

(1.) A word respecting the present judgment. Now it is worthy of notice, that the prevailing distress of famine and sickness is a manifested judgment. I should think that none, save the most determined scoffer, can deny that the famine in Ireland, and which we, in some degree, participate, and which is also in other countries, is the work of God. At all events, none can deny that an awful visitation has come upon us. And we at least, who are met here, acknowledge God's hand in the matter; so that this is a manifest, an undeniable, an allowed judgment. And it is well to remark this, because there are some evils which befal men, and which are not seen and acknowledged to be judgments. For instance, false doctrines are often treated with contempt. In vain has Scripture warned us against false teachers, and the dangers of following them. The ruin of morals and religion is not seen, perhaps, for some time, and so people are ready to dally with, if not to embrace, the falsehood; and the denouncers of it as a judgment are looked upon as foolish alarmists, till souls find out their mistake in hell; or children of the third or fourth generation are openly visited by the manifest consequences of a judgment not before acknowledged. Had God allowed some lying spirit to go forth through the land, the judgment might have been far heavier, and yet not have been perceived. In the present case we have no such difficulty to contend with. The present visitation is a manifest judgment. Think, then, of this fact. We acknowledge that God has come out of his place to punish us; we acknowledge His rod is lifted up; and that this country at this moment is writhing under the blow of His heavy hand-the stroke of His vengeful sword.

(2.) But though the stroke of the sword is manifest, the manner in which it is made is not the less mysterious. A particular kind of plant on which, in Ireland, the people chiefly, if not entirely, depend, has been almost universally destroyed. And

there are two respects in which this is a mysterious dispensation. First, because of the suddenness of the visitation; and secondly, because it baffles all science and art to discover the nature of, or, a remedy for, the evil. You may have read what one of the bishops in Ireland says of this visitation on its first appearance. It is this:-"I rode over a tract of country of nearly fifty miles in extent, in the middle of July, '46, and it was impossible to behold a more exhilarating sight. Everything spoke abundance and prosperity. The potato plants stood up like stout shrubs or little trees, and seemed almost safe from the taint of the previous year. But in one night all was changed. I traversed the same tract of country in August; and the words of Moses, concerning Egypt, were literally applicable: "The land stank." Corruption and rottenness met the eye on everyside. The whole crop had perished. Mark, then, my brethren, in this the mysterious work of God, and see how we hold everything dependent on His will; how entirely we are in His power.

(3.) The present judgment also is no less grievous than it is manifest and mysterious. It is grievous to all who suffer it, and to all who witness or hear of it. Nothing can exceed the extreme destitution to which hundreds and thousands have been, and at this present moment are, reduced. Whole districts being so utterly deprived of food, that not only numbers are perishing from actual starvation, but under such circumstances that none is found to bury them, the common feelings of humanity being forgotten under the pressure of misery and want. Besides which, as evil never comes alone, but one brings on another, so robbery and murder are the natural consequences of these things; and for the sake of a bit of bread, or a little meal, men have robbed the widow of all her living, and murdered her children to prevent detection.

And all this happens notwithstanding unparalleled efforts to relieve the sufferers. The amount which is being expended both by government, and through means of private charity, is enormous; and yet the evil is scarcely checked. And, for the future, unless Providence timely interfere to dispel the clouds, the prospect gathers blackness. The calamity is by no means at its height; and one awful feature of the case is, that the people are becoming so benumbed by their appalling miseries, and so infatuated, that it is greatly to be feared they will not exert themselves to till the soil. If the Lord avert not his evil, if He awake them not to a proper sense of their duty, and to their own assistance, then "both he that helpeth shall fall, and

he that is holpen shall fall down, and we shall both fall together." And as what was suffered last year was light compared with what is endured now, so shall the present calamity be only the beginning of sorrows compared with what are yet

to come.

I do not here enter into particulars; but I have thought it right, both to mention the nature and extent of this judgment, and to point out to you also the fact, that the evil, unless the Lord turn away His wrathful indignation, is by no means at its height-the plague is only begun!

O that we could fully realize the awful visitation that is come upon us. O that we could feel as sensible as we ought, of our being now under the anger and frown of Almighty God, who could crush us in a moment. For, lastly, I have only to add on this point, that you must remember, how our own crops have been partially destroyed; and that nothing but the merciful forbearance of our God has preserved any of them to our use, or withheld from us the like destruction as our neighbours. So that when we consider their calamity, which is in many senses our own, the voice of the text should sound in our ears with peculiar force, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Having directed your attention to the judgment itself, for which we are called upon, by the voice of our God, the voice of our Queen, the voice of our country, to fast and humble ourselves this day, I now proceed to the second part of our subject, which is to consider,

II. The cause of this judgment. And, as we saw it is plainly implied in the text that sin is the cause of judgment, let us reflect upon the sins which we have committed, and which we cannot but see have brought down most justly upon us the wrath of Almighty God.

As the judgment we now suffer is felt both by the nation and individuals, so are there both national and personal sins to be acknowledged and repented of.

1. Now, those are called national sins which are very general among a people: for instance, some nations are known for their warlike propensities, others for their effeminacy; one is known for its cruelty, another for its luxury; one for its love of money, and another for its sloth. Are there, then, no sins which we may speak of as thus generally chargeable upon our people? I would to God it were not so, then would not His hand press so sorely on us, nor our future prospects look so dark-then might we this day have been called together for thanksgiving, and not to fast.

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(1.) Look at our national forgetfulness of God. There may be some tokens of our acknowledging God. As yet we have a national Church, a form of sound words in our Liturgy: we have public thanksgivings offered up for victories over our enemies : we have this very Fast-day appointed. But these are truly rather cause for humiliation than matters to boast of: they rather serve to shew the darkness, than to disperse it. We have a national Church; but how many of its members are godless: how much of that which should be salt has lost its savour. We have a national Church; but is this people a church-going people? Alas, what a sprinkling of worshippers are there in the land, compared with the masses that live without God. Visit our towns and cities, and you will see it: go into the streets and lanes of the same, and if you have any zeal for God, any love for Christ, any pity for the souls of men, your hearts will die within you. We have a national Church, and we have the form of sound words; but because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold, and we have need to be very humble, and to strengthen the things that remain which are ready to die.

(2.) And as there is national forgetfulness of God, so is there, and must be, national worldliness. The spirit of the times is essentially worldly-never was mammon so worshipped as now. To this grim idol will men bow down their minds, and souls, and bodies-they will burn incense to it continually, and sacrifice to it day and night. Truth, honesty, virtue, godliness, religion, time, and eternity, are as nothing, if they may but procure gain. Nor is the smallest profit too little to sacrifice these things for, nor the largest amount of present wealth great enough to satisfy the diseased appetite for filthy lucre. In the higher classes this idolatry of money is manifested by a spirit of reckless speculation, that has well nigh brought us to universal ruin; and even now threatens the stability of trade, and brings about almost a regular periodical crisis. In the lower classes, this self-same spirit is seen to be at work, by the postponement of every consideration to the one absorbing thought of gain. So that in many poorer districts there is not even an appearance of religion-whole houses, streets, and neighbourhoods, having utterly cast off the worship of God, either privately or in public.

(3.) And may it not also be justly charged against us, that nationally we are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Look at the pampered luxury of the times; see how like the conduct of the Prodigal is the course of thousands; see how