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>N fju V° ; .*£" £V ,/> :/ . '.. "^ V*' O MAMMON; Tc OB, COVETOUSNESS THE SIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BY THE REV. JOHN HARRIS, AUTHOR OF THE GREAT TEACHER, ETC. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY G. LANE & C. B. TIPPETT, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AT THE CONFERENCE OFFICE, 200 MULBERRY-STREET. James Collord, Printer. 1844. /* t t .. W I £4 Gift Jttdge and Mrs/Isaac R, Hltt July 3, 1933 ORIGINAL ADVERTISEMENT. Many of the wisest and best of men are of opinion that there is no sin so prevalent among professors of the gos- pel as the love of moneyy and yet there is no subject on which so little has been written well. The late Andrew Fuller says, " It will, in all probability, prove the eternal overthrow of more characters among professing people than any other sin, because it is almost the only crime which can be indulged, and a profession of religion at the same time supported." One hundred guineas, besides the profits of its publication,*will be presented to the author of the best essay on this subject. Preference will be given to the most scriptural, poignant, and affectionate appeal to the judgment and conscience of those who professedly re- cognise the authority of revelation on avaricious hoarding, and on unchristian-like expenditure to gratify the lust of the eye and the pride of life, while they avow their obli- gations to redeeming mercy, and profess that themselves and all they have is not their own, but belongs and must be accounted for to Him who has said, " Occupy till I come;" then "give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." The work wanted is one that will bear on selfishness, as it leads us to live to ourselves, and not for God and our fellow-men. It is 6 MAMMON. requested that reference may be made to the different esti- mates of man who blesseth, and of God who abhorreth, the covetous, Psalm x, 3 ; and to the tremendous conse- quences of accumulating property, as this sin is associated with the vilest of crimes which exclude from the kingdom of heaven, Eph. v, 5. The manuscript is to be sent to Dr. Conquest, 13 Finsbury-square, on or before the 1st of November, 1835, with a sealed letter containing the ad- dress of the writer. The Hon. and Rev. W. Baptist Noel and the Rev. Dr. Pye Smith have kindly engaged to be the arbitrators, and the award will be adjudged on the Is of May, 1836. CONTENTS. PART I. Page SELFISHNESS THE ANTAGONIST OP THE GOSPEL . 17 PART II. COVETOUSNESS THE PRINCIPAL FORM OF SELFISH- NESS IN ITS NATURE, FORMS, PREVALENCE, ESPE- CIALLY IN BRITAIN, DISGUISES, TESTS, EVILS, DOOM, AND PLEAS 52 PART III. CHRISTIAN LIBER JLLITY EXPLAINED AND ENFORCED '89 ADJUDICATORS' ADVERTISEMENT. In the early part of the last year, we were made ac- quainted with the proposal of a Christian friend, John Tricker Conquest, M.D., F.L.S., to confer a prize of one hundred guineas (which, with the accompanying expenses, amounts to the donation of about one hundred and fifty guineas) upon any essay produced in competi- tion, with the usual precautions to preserve the secrecy of the authors, upon the sin of covetousness ; particularly with regard to the duties of piety and beneficence, which, at the present time, are so incumbent on all men, but especially on those who would not abdicate the name of Christians. The request was made that we would be the umpires in determining to whom, in such a friendly com- petition, that prize would be the most righteously due. To that request we assented with many feelings of diffi- culty and reluctance ; but the opinion of duty induced us to suppress them. The requisite care was taken, that till we had given our decision, we should not have the slightest knowledge, or any ground of conjecture whatsoever, concerning the writers of the essays, which were no fewer than one hundred and forty-three. After much thought, and humbly seeking, by prayer and supplication, that we might be enabled to form a right judgment, we saw it to be our duty to declare the work now given to the public to be the one entitled to 10 MAMMON Dr. Conquest's munificent prize. But we did not arrive at this determination, without a high feeling of gratitude and admiration at the mass of sanctified talent which had been brought before our view. Many of the treatises, some of which are considerable volumes, are so replete with knowledge of the divine word, of the heart and cha- racter of man, and are so marked with comprehensive research, deep penetration, and Christian candour, as to have made us feel considerable regret at the thought of their being withheld from the public. We are conscien- tiously satisfied with the decision which we thus announce ; but it is, at the same time, our earnest desire that some others of the essays should be published. We are per- suaded that the subject is not exhausted ; and if, by the respective authors, our request for the publication should be granted, we trust the great cause of religion will be eminently served, and that the minds of those excellent persons will enjoy the delight which flows from extensive and the most important usefulness. J. PYE SMITH, BAPTIST W. NOEL. Near London, June 3, 1836. MAMMON: OR, COVETOUSNESS THE SIN OF THE CHURCH. PREFACE. The history of this Essay is sufficiently ex- plained by the advertisements prefixed. But concerning its plan, as the reader may possibly expect that the following pages are confined exclusively to the subject of covetousness, the writer may be permitted to state the reasons which have led him to introduce two other to- pics—Selfishness, and Christian Liberality. A glance at the original advertisement will show, that while the sin of covetousness was the principal object in the eye of the benevo- lent proposer, yet it was viewed and spoken of by him only as a part of the great system of selfishness. The writer felt himself, therefore, not merely permitted, but virtually required, to give this parent evil a primary place in his Essay. He is, however, free to confess, that had he not done so from a sense of obligation, 12 MAMMON. PREFACE. he should most likely have done k from choice, since he deems it an appropriate introduction to the principal subject. On this account, then, selfishness, as the great antagonist of Chris- tianity, and the source of covetousness, forms the first part. Covetousness—the prevailing form of selfish- ness—is the second, and principal, part. Had the writer concluded with this part, he could not have considered the Essay complete unless a closing section had been added on the cure of the evil under consideration. In that case, it would have been obvious to insist on a variety of familiar prudential maxims. But the love of money can only be remedied by " the expulsive power of a new affection." If we would not have the ivy to creep on the ground, we must erect an object which it can embrace, and, by embracing, ascend ; and if we would detach the heart from embracing the dust, we must give to it another and a nobler object. The utter inef- ficacy of every thing short of this is evident. Hippocrates advised a consultation of all the physicians in the world for the cure of covet- ousness. The animadversions and appeals of Socrates not only failed to remedy the evil as it existed at Athens, but, judging from certain ex- MAMMON. PREFACE. 13 pressions in Plato's Apology of Socrates, they were the means of enraging his enemies, and of procuring his condemnation. And about the time that the Apostle Paul was denouncing the sin in his epistle to Timothy, Seneca was de- crying the same evil, and composing his ethics ; but, as if to show the impotence of his own precepts, "he was accused of having amassed the most ample riches,"—a circumstance which, though not the ostensible, was no doubt the real, cause of his finally falling a victim to the jea- lousy of Nero. But if such be the inefficacy of the precepts of the heathen philosopher, what is the prescription of the Christian apostle? Aware that the same means which destroy cu- pidity produce liberality, he does not concern himself so much with the death of covetousness as with the birth of charity. He says less about the sin when seeking its removal, than about the duty which is to displace it. He commands benevolence. He enjoins the " man of God" not only to flee the evil, but to follow the opposite virtues, and to flee the one by following the " other. O man of God, flee these things ; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, Charge them that are rich in this world that they do good, — 14 MAMMON. PREFACE. that they be rich in good works, ready to dis- tribute, willing to communicate ; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." Instead, therefore, of ending with a section on the cure of covetousness, the writer thinks he has copied inspired example, and increased the practical effect of the Essay, and better consulted the intentions of the party who has occasioned it, by adding a third part, on Chris- tian liberality. The cross of Christ is not merely a perpetual protest against the selfish- ness of the world ; it has given a new object to our affections, and a new motive to our obe- dience that object is Christ, and that motive is the love we bear to him.