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    ^ consideration of two points : firs t , what are * the causes to which we are to impute this decline ? and secondly , are there any means by which it may be prevented ? To the first of these questions every

    one will be ready to reply , thaf the cause exists in the luxurious and depraved inanners of the age , in the unbounded eagerness for the acquisition of riches , and in the unsatiable love of pleasure

    which so strongly characterize the period in which we live . These assertions , it must be admitted , are to a certain extent true , but they do not appear to me exactly to meet the difficulty ; for although I cannot but be sensible to

    the encreasing luxury of the times , and to the unbounded eagerness for the acquisition of wealth , which operate upon ihe minds of too many individuals , yet I do not think that either the virtuous principles or moral qualities of the dissenters have declined in an

    equal ratio with the decrease of their sectarian spirit . Even if we should suppose that what have ' been mentioned are the general or

    primary causes of the phenomenon , it may stfll be useful to examine in what way they operate , and to inquire whether there may not * be other more immediate causes for

    the effect . It is only by this more minute kind of i ' nvestistation that we can have any prospect of being * successful in our endeavours to obviate the evil . In the first place I shall assign as a very principal cause , the unlimited and excessive

    fondness for free inquiry , which leads persons to question the propriety of all ancient- usages , and to undervalue all customs and forms , the immediate good effects of which are not apparent . This

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    i ^ ethod of scrutinizing into the use and advantage of every thing that we do , is a remarkable trait in the manners of the present ager , and has given risje to the most important changes in dress , external

    manners , politics and ' religion * It has led to the opinion , which must be admitted to be correct * that attendance upon public worship is not in itself a moral act , and that it only becomes so when it proceeds from proper motives ,

    or when it produces a moral effect upon the mind ; it is not a virtue , but only a means of virtue . In too many instances it is true , that the manner in which religious ser * vices are performed is not such as to excite much interest in the

    auditor , or to give him any informa . tion that is new or important . If we then , in each individual case , ask ourselves , whether our time might not be rnoie pleasantly , or even more usefully employed than • • • ^

    in visiting the meeting-house , we may be strongly inclined to answer in the affirmative , and nothing but a steady attention to the effects of habit can induce us to forego the feelings of the moment , and to prefer our duty to our inclination .

    A second cause for the neglect of public worship may , I think , be found in the alteration that has taken place in our ideas respecting the nature of Sunday , and the method in which it ought to be employed . Our ancestors

    regarded what they called the Sabbath , to be a day similar to the Sabbath of the Jews , in which no manner of work was to be done , and no

    pleasure to be enjoyed . No books were to be read , and no conversation was to be heard ,-except such as were strictly theological , and walking or riding , except to and

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    324 On the Decline of Presbyterian Congregations ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1809, page 324, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1737/page/22/