“You need not be assured that I am very glad accident should have enabled me to put you in the way of being usefully, though arduously, employed*, and in a station where I hope you may make your
* Mr. James White had been appointed to the incumbency of St. George’s, Manchester, through my father’s recommendation. |
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“If I preached to a wealthy congregation, my general aim would be to awaken them from that state of religious torpor which prosperity induces. I should, therefore, dwell upon the responsibility which is attached to the good things of this world; upon sins of omission, and the straitness of the gate. But to a congregation like yours my general strain would be consolatory; forgiveness and mercy would be my favourite theme. In the former case it is necessary to rouse, if not to alarm; in the latter to encourage and invite. In the former to dwell upon the difficulty of attaining to salvation; in the latter upon its easy terms, and the relief which it offers to those who are heavy laden.
“Concerning schools, no person can be more unfitted
for advising you on that business (or, indeed, on any other) than I am. But of
this I am sure, that in such a parish as yours an infant-school is the most
useful and necessary establishment that could be formed. The people of this
country are not yet aware of the consequence of youthful depravity; how widely
it extends, and how early it begins. In any attempts of this kind you will have
the mothers with you. And, indeed, at all attempts at moral
| Ætat. 52. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 281 |
“In your case, I would never touch upon controversial subjects, especially those which relate to Popery. The character of being a charitable, earnest, and pious preacher will make its way among some of the Irish Romanists, and lead them farther than they are aware of towards a perception of the difference between the religion of the Gospel, and the superstitions by which they are enthralled. But were you to touch upon the points of difference, it would serve only to put their priests upon the alert, and make them watch over their flock more strictly. I would pursue a different course at Dublin, because the two parties are in hostile array there, and the weapons of controversy must be used.
“But your task seems to me, in this respect, a pleasanter one. If I judge rightly of the circumstances in which you are placed, your call is to proclaim good tidings, and preach the promises of the Gospel. Those who are in misery—I had almost said, in the vices to which misery too often leads—have little need of its threats.
“But enough of this. I have no acquaintance in
| 282 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 52. |
