LECTURE VIII.

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

EXODUS, Xx. 14.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

THE law of God is not only just and good, but holy. While it is to adjust the rights and promote the happiness of society, it is to assimilate the individuals of whom society is composed to the character of God. Indeed, it is only by producing this assimilation,-conforming the perceptions and tastes of the mind to the model of infinite perfection,—that any one of the demands of this law can be fulfilled. By stamping the divine image on the soul, the principles on which the law is founded become the principles of action; the attributes of the divine nature, of which the law is the expression, and which are displayed in the law, (as they really exist,) in the highest possible harmony, are reflected by the human spirit. Thus man was created," in the likeness of God." Thus "the new man is renewed after the image of him that created him, in knowledge and in true holiness."

All men have some sense of justice interwoven with their desires for happiness. The value of every thing that has a tendency to establish our rightful claims, or to secure our personal enjoyment,

we can at once appreciate, in proportion as we perceive it to have such tendencies. But, all men have not a sense of purity. It is only when the rights of a fellow-creature are invaded, or when the happiness of a fellow-creature is impaired, by the indulgence of impure propensities, that human laws can interfere; and as human laws, and not the divine, are the ordinary standard of thought and feeling on moral questions, it has come to pass that this seventh commandment has been considered merely as the prohibition of that enormous crime by which the tenderest interests of individuals and of families are blasted; and the enormity of the crime has been contemplated, chiefly, in the deep and lasting injuries, both of a personal and social nature, which it inflicts. It is impossible to have too strong convictions of the dreadful nature and consequences of adultery, even in this point of view: its baseness, its cruelty, its degrading selfishness, its contempt of whatever is lovely, and noble, and endearing, either in the affections, or in the institutions of society, are beyond conception. But this sin, and the whole class of propensities and gratifications of which it forms a part, are offences against purity,-the purity of God, the purity of the transgressor's own spirit, and the purity of those whom his example may pollute.

The language of the commandment shows the lengths of depravity to which a man may be hurried when his impure thoughts and inclinations are unrestrained. But the expression of divine anger is not confined to this extreme case of depravity: it extends to the primary thoughts and dispositions, as well as to all the intermediate degrees in conduct of which this act is the consummation.

It is not necessary, in this discourse, to point out the origin and importance of those social affections, the excess or the perversion of which is here forbidden; nor to prove, from their connexion with the divine constitution, with the refinement of human sensibilities, and with the promotion of all that is

tender, or dignified, or benevolent in the character of man, that it is not the extirpation, but the government, of these affections, at which religion aims.

a

The letter of this commandment respects the violation of rights acquired by marriage. It therefore supposes the existence, and assumes the authority of that institution. It guards it, by the sanctions of the Supreme Governor, from the feelings which levity or licentiousness might suggest, and from the sentiments and maxims,-the derangement of existing order and the hostility towards all established usages, which mark the of progress sceptical philosophy. Marriage originated in the express appointment of God; and the benefits flowing from this institution, when at all observed in the spirit of the divine appointment, have, in every age, evinced his wisdom and benevolence. The advantages accruing to governments, to civilization, to the progress of arts, of science, and of religion, from the distribution of men into families, and from the consequent habits of domestic attachments and early education, are universally appreciated: they all result from the institution of marriage.

Besides these social blessings, others equally momentous result from this institution. It softens the tendencies to ferociousness, to unfeeling independence, to vagrancy, in the human character. It constitutes home. It blends the firmness of manhood with the gentle power of female influence, in the nurture of the rising race. It lays the foundation for that moral character which is essential to human happiness. It embraces that wide operation of parental duties, in the discharge of which the purest principles are implanted, and the strongest guards are placed around the youthful mind, in every stage of its advancement, and before its exposure to the conflicts and snares of life. It is the divinely appointed channel through which the soundest and most efficient christian instruction is conveyed. It

is the nursery, therefore, not only of the state, but of the church.

It is apparent, that, as this commandment presupposes the existence and the benefits of the marriage relation, it is the intention of God that this relation should be associated with the most honourable, pure, and sacred sentiments; and that it should be contemplated in the light which is thrown around it by the testimony of Scripture, the purposes of Providence, the interests of religion, and the happiness of man. Men may be so situated as to render it imprudent or inexpedient to enter on this relation: yet, in their thoughts or language, it is sinful to regard or to represent the relation itself otherwise than as it is uniformly represented in the Holy Scriptures.

It is for want of such enlightened and honourable conceptions of this institution, that the speculations of men, on some interesting moral questions intimately allied to it, are so degraded, that the tone of morals in society is so relaxed,-that systems of education are often so defective,-that celibacy is sometimes so licentious, and marriage so often followed by wretchedness and disappointment.

Let the design of marriage be well understood; and let it be entered on with the regard to circumstances, the discernment of character, the reliance on the blessing of Heaven, and the devotion to the domestic services of religion, which will necessarily accompany a serious consideration of this design,and the richest felicity attainable on earth will be enjoyed. "Marriage is honourable in all." "Forbidding to marry" is one of the features of that accursed system which is familiar with "seducing spirits," and "speaking lies in hypocrisy."

The desertion of a husband or of a wife; the neglect of conjugal duties, so minutely specified, and so persuasively urged in various parts of the New Testament; divorce for any reason but the ascertained perpetration of the crime denounced in this

prohibition; the degradation of the marriage contract, by subordinating it to the schemes of avarice, ambition, or sensuality;-each of these is a gross violation of the seventh commandment.

The well-defined crime of adultery itself is the most wicked perversion of God's institution. The strongest language ever employed in Scripture to depict the horrid nature of idolatry, is borrowed from the acknowledged odiousness of adultery. "It is a monster of many heads. It receiveth all kinds of vices, and refuseth all kinds of virtues. If one several sin bringeth damnation, what is to be thought of that sin which is accompanied with all evils, and hath waiting on it whatsoever is hateful to God, damnable to man, and pleasant to Satan?"*

The precepts of the New Testament, which furnish the best commentary on this commandment, are equally particular, decided, and solemn, in condemning other excesses and unlawful gratifications of the same passions. "Flee fornication. No fornicator nor unclean person hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. Flee youthful lusts. Without are fornicators and murderers."

The follies and indiscretions of youth, as they are called, for which a thousand apologies are sought in the force of passion, and in the temptations of the gay world, are here described in the most stern and serious language. The most distant approach to them is forbidden by the terrors of infinite wrath. The slightest indulgence in them is branded as directly opposed to the will of God, absolutely incompatible with the possession of the first rudiments of true religion, and exposing the transgressor to eternal banishment from the presence and the favour of God.

* Book of Homilies. On Adultery.