SERMON XIV.

ON THE HARVEST.

O GOD, Father of men, Father of all things in leaven and earth, thou openest thy bountiful hand without wearying, and finest and rejoicest and blessest all that live with good things. Thou hast this year also not left us without witness, but hast graciously given us what we need for our support. Thou hast preserved the fruits of the field by thy guardianship, and permitted us to gather them in in undisturbed tranquillity under the protection of peace. Thou halt again done great things for us, and by all thy gifts hast laid upon us the obligation to praise thee with emotion of soul. O then that our thanksgiving were not merely the work of the lips, but the effusion of the heart! that we perceived and felt what new and just claims thou hast acquired thereby on our love, our trust, and our obedience! that we might present to thee on this festive day an offering worthy of thee, agreeable to thy will and to our duty! Yes, to extol thy goodness, 268and revere the ways of thy Providence, to be contented, and not as dissatisfied creatures, not as guilty rioters in thy kingdom, to rebel against thy established regulations; to limit our wishes, and to enjoy with wise moderation, with a calm mind, in innocence and virtue, what thou bestowest on us; this becomes us as men and as Christians; let this therefore be our sincere resolution and our earnest endeavour. And let us be encouraged and strengthened thereto in the present hour, consecrated to thy worship, let us be forcibly reminded of it by the call which the harvest now addresses to us; let the fruits of the earth thereby become beneficial to our mind, beneficial with regard to our higher destination. Amen.

John iv. 35-38.

Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh harvest? behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true; one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

IF we did not behold the works of nature in our earliest childhood; if the view of its great and admired phenomena, following each other in regular 269succession, were not of common and daily occurrence if we entered the theatre of the creation at once as educated men with exercised and developed understandings, and sensitive and expanded hearts, what an impression would it not make upon us with what force would it strike upon our senses and our mind! with what irresistible power would it attract us, and rivet our attention! What a solemn tone of mind would the manifold scenes and changes’ in heaven and earth impart to us! How lively and ardent would be our sensations, how instructive and earnest our meditations, how devout and fervent our songs of praise offered up to the Deity! Yes, man can become indifferent to every thing, even to the greatest and most sublime object, when it has lost the charm of novelty and therefore we must carefully guard against our taste for the beauties of nature being gradually blunted; therefore we must never enter her fields without thought, but always as rational creatures, always as men and as Christians therefore we must open our ears to her voice, and consider it a sacred law thankfully to regard her warnings, her admonitions, and her sources of consolation.

And this is most especially applicable to the harvest, which calls to us every year, and reminds us of truths, the importance of which deserves the most serious regard. For these truths, if we rightly comprehend and faithfully follow them, are the real 270and lasting, the spiritual and moral profit, which we may draw from the earthly harvest. They are an encouragement to wisdom and virtue, and call to mind our destiny and our duties. They shew us our dignity and our weakness, our relationship with God and our dependence on him, what we may and what we may not expect. They have reference to objects, which must be highly important to us all, because they equally concern us all. For this reason we find also in so many places of the Bible allusions to the harvest, and images, comparisons, and expressions, which are taken from it. For this reason the Apostle says, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;” in order to indicate, that the proportion between that which we sow and the fruits we gather, must point out to us the intimate connexion of the present life with the future. For this reason Jesus speaks in our text of a moral harvest, after his disciples had spoken of the natural one, and thereupon takes occasion to direct their thoughts to their high calling, and the honourable office committed to them. Your harvest, he gives them to understand, is now already ripe, and the field of truth and virtue awaits only the band of. the reaper, for others have laboured before you, and ye are chosen to complete the work. Go then into the field already white, that ye may receive your appointed wages, and gather fruit unto life eternal.

The remembrance of the harvest may prove full 271of instruction to us also; we also may find in it much that is encouraging and comforting, if we attend to the voice of the Lord, which speaks to us through it. Let us accordingly listen to its call to-day, the festival of the harvest; let us hear the important truths which it inculcates, and commit them to good and obedient hearts. It will then not be necessary for me particularly to prescribe to you the duties which this year’s harvest demands of you; it will itself, and so loudly speak to you, that it is to be hoped you will not refuse to obey its injunctions. The first important truth which the annual harvest inculcates for our instruction and encouragement is this; What cannot the activity of man perform? The activity of man—that indeed says much and little, according to the point of view, from which it is contemplated. For what is it, and what can it achieve, how little and insignificant it appears, when compared with the efficiency of God, whose power is infinite, and whose mere will is creation, whose mere will is preservation! with the efficiency of the Highest, who does all things from himself and by himself, and never can fail in his purpose, nor ever be fatigued! Yes, O man! when thou returnest from the thought of God and his greatness, when thy mind has been engaged in the contemplation of that perfect and adorable mind, which calls worlds into existence and governs worlds, then feel thy nothingness and thy impotence; then full of humility 272acknowledge with the Prophet, that mortal power, in respect of God, resembles but the drop which hangs on the bucket.

And nevertheless the activity of man, when measured. by a more humble standard, is very great, very manifold, very comprehensive; and nothing is more adapted to remind us of it, than the sight of the harvest. For who has tilled and cultivated the land? Who has tended and cherished it? Who has given it its present form, so suitable, so favourable to fertility? Who is it, whose hands assist nature, and still gain treasures even from the poorest soil? Who is it, that makes heights as well as depths habitable, beautifies the most waste places of the earth, transforms the wildest regions, and converts dismal inaccessible wildernesses into smiling plains and rich pastures? It is man who has done all this and continues to do it; man, who disregards all opposition and is deterred by no obstacle; man, who contends against all seasons; all elements, all influence of adverse circumstances, and by industry and perseverance generally attains his end. Yes, if we reflect, that our harvests are our work, and that we must multiply the productions of nature, in. proportion as population increases; if we reflect, that all the field and garden-fruits of our quarter of the globe are the produce of other remote climes, which could not be brought to us but over dangerous seas; if we 273reflect, what industry must have been employed, in order to make plants of this kind grow and flourish, even in countries where the land that should nourish them was often totally different from their mother-soil; we are furnished with an incontrovertible, and sensible proof, how true is that which the holy Scripture says; “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him,” that he should “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth;” in order to derive advantage and pleasure from every thing which surrounds him.

And still how little is all this activity of man! How little is all this in comparison with that, which, in other ways and in so many other respects, he has attempted and executed! What numerous fields of science, of art, of trade, of commerce, of industry, has he not cultivated, all of which required no small exertions! What difficulties were to be overcome, before our states, our civil constitutions, our school and education establishments, our domestic and social relations could attain the present, though but moderate degree of perfection! And yet all these various labours had not power to bind the indefatigable mortal to this earth; he has raised his searching look to the heaven also, measured its spaces, found the most distant suns, discovered the track of wandering stars, and determined the laws of their course; his artificially 274aided eye has carried him even beyond the bounds of the visible creation, and opened to him the prospect of new worlds, an access to the greater sanctuary of God. Respect then, O man, respect thyself and thy race, and discern what thou art and canst become. Honour the inestimable gift of reason, which the gracious Creator has bestowed on thee, and never in any case forget, that the excellence of thy nature rests upon that alone. For without it thou wouldest be the weakest and most wretched of all the creatures of the earth, and destitute of all means of preservation, all weapons for thy defence, and all instruments of thy pleasure. Without it thy activity would be blind and without rule to guide it, and the sight of fruits grown by thyself, the enjoyment of the finest plants, and the blessing of the harvest, would not delight thee.

But much as the industry of man is able to perform, yet have we little cause to be proud, and to consider ourselves the sole authors of our successful works. No, we attain with all our labour only that, which it is permitted to us from above to attain and on this point also the harvest may afford us an excellent lesson, if we attend to its instruction. For it loudly and audibly cries to us, in the second place, It is God; who must make every good thing to prosper. We cultivate and appoint the land, we sow and plant, we nourish the soil to which we have entrusted our hope but he alone can fulfil 275this hope; he alone can give growth and fertility, sunshine and warmth, early and late rain in their season; he alone can faithfully and annually guard the harvest from injury. We have no power against wind and weather, against the devastations of destroying insects, against all the accidents which may deprive our fields and gardens of their beauty and abundance. If he shut up the bosom of the earth, if the faint and parched land languish in vain for refreshment, if the swollen clouds burst asunder and desolating torrents drown the seed, if unseasonable frost or scorching heat, noxious moisture, or crushing hail, disappoint our fairest expectations; it is to no purpose that we exert all our judgment, and unite all our powers to produce a contrary effect. For we may indeed assist nature, but not change its fixed course, its eternal laws. We may learn much from it to our advantage, but cannot escape from its power and dominion. We may follow its track and avail ourselves of its hints, but not absolutely make it subservient to our wishes. It is therefore God, the Lord of nature, to whom we are in subjection; it is God, who must bless that which is sown, protect our fields, and cause the fruits of the earth to thrive.

And it is just the same, my Christian hearers, in the moral world also, with every undertaking of man that is good and of general utility. They sow and plant, they form plans and concert measures, 276they prepare and begin the work; but the issue of their labours is not in their own hand, but in the hand of the Highest. They often think they have considered every thing most carefully, arranged every thing in the best manner, and exactly calculated every thing, even to the smallest circumstances, and yet see their designs thus or thus frustrated. They enter into alliances, they impart to each other of their courage, their strength, their acquirements, their abundance; they act with foresight, with prudence, with firmness, with public spirit, and yet fail; in their purposes. But this is the lot of mortals, and no wisdom can protect us against it, no virtue raise us above it. As many good, as evil, acts are unsuccessful; as many beneficial, as pernicious attempts; as many intentions of benevolence as of wickedness. For if the Supreme Being has determined otherwise; if that, which appears to short-sighted man as most necessary and most useful, is in reality not of that nature; if the world is not yet ripe for the reception and enjoyment of certain benefits, if our ways are not as the ways of God and our thoughts are not his thoughts; then his inscrutable judgments frustrate our doings, and no industry, no exertion, no perseverance, no sacrifices are effectual to bring us to the desired end of our labours. We have in such cases the merit of a good will and an honest heart, we have performed our duty and may console ourselves 277with the applause of our consciences; but God alone guides our fate, and we must acquiesce in his dispensations, in whatever his unsearchable counsels promote or impede, facilitate or obstruct.

Yes, all things, O man! all things depend on God and his providence, on his guidance and government; and as he sends fruitfulness and scarcity, he sends also prosperity and adversity, light and darkness, peace and war, times of tranquillity and times of disturbance. As the inanimate creation obeys him, and every element executes his commands, he has also mankind and all their hearts, all their thoughts, all their energies, all their treasures in his power, and makes use of them according to his pleasure. We forget this but too easily, and let it surprise us, when wishes are unsuccessful for what we esteem highly salutary and profitable; we far too willingly believe, that God, who only wills what is good and always that which is best, must by all means will that, which we ourselves hold to be so but remember, O dejected one, remember the course of nature, and behold its now plentiful, now deficient harvests, and learn from them, that it is God who must make all which is good to prosper, if success shall attend it.

And well it is for us, Christians, that it is God! Happy are we, that with our wants and hopes we do not depend on ourselves, on our limited understandings, on our variable wills! Happy we, that 278we stand under the inspection of him, who overlooks the whole, and best knows what is good for us! He denies us perhaps much which we think desirable, and sends us much that we would willingly have been spared; but he has also (and this is the third important instruction which the harvest makes evident to us) he has also provided, that there shall be seasons of gladness, seasons of reward and encouragement, for all orders and classes of the people. For every harvest that does not entirely fail is such a season to the countryman, who then celebrates his brightest and most festive days. Is he, what according to the will of God and his destination he ought to be, a free man and not degraded by bondage? does he labour for himself and his family, and not for a hard, self-interested tyrant, who unfeelingly oppresses and cruelly ill-treats him? does he live in a state, where he enjoys equal rights, equal security, equal protection with the other citizens and subjects, and may trust in the support of the laws and the reigning prince? such an one feels indemnified by the gifts of the harvest for all his previous trouble, and enjoys the remuneration for his exertion, the fruits of his toil and his laborious calling. Hence the loud acclamation, with which the produce of the field is received and collected, hence the stirring activity with which the whole business is carried on, hence the universal satisfaction with which all is concluded. For this 279reason the Prophet says, “They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest³⁶³⁶   Isaiah ix. 3.;” for this reason, all things have then a more inviting form and wear a gayer appearance, amongst the inhabitants of the country; for this reason, the more refined and informed townsman delights then to mix in the joyous ranks of the children of nature. But these times of gladness, these seasons of reward and encouragement, are not the portion of the countryman alone; they are given in one way or another, more or less frequently, to all conditions, and render, in due proportion, all classes of the people happy. For whatever good we do, whatever useful act we devise in our private and public sphere, that is a sowing on hope, a gain for futurity; and every order of society, every honest man intent on his duty, sooner or later celebrates his harvest. The prince and the statesman celebrate it when they see the fruits of their activity, their watchfulness, and their care matured; when they see the regulations, which they have established for the public good, answer their purpose and become fixed and durable; when they see the people placed under their government, grow more diligent and enterprising, more sensible and judicious, better and more contented. The teacher of sciences celebrates his harvest, when he experiences gratification from his pupils, and multiplies his efficiency through them; when he forms scholars, who redound as 280much to his honour as they are an ornament to the church or the state; when he sends forth into near and distant regions heralds of the truth, promoters of virtue, priests of righteousness, benefactors of men, who have become what they are chiefly by his tuition. And what a harvest for parents, when they behold the son, whom they have educated with all possible Care, and for whom they have spared no pains nor cost, in an important office or in some useful calling, as a serviceable citizen, a support of their age, and the comfort of their lives; or the daughter, over whose innocence they have watched, and whose heart they have preserved pure, as the deserving wife of a worthy man, as the glad mother of hopeful children, in a happy state of life, and one which accords with their wishes; or when they see all the branches of their family collected around them on certain days consecrated to joy, and on all sides bright countenances, thankful hearts, and eyes beaming with affection! And where is that condition, to which a wise and kind Providence denies every harvest of this kind? Where is the teacher of the people and of youth, where the merchant, the artisan, the tradesman, who in his situation has not had the ability and the means, who as a friend of man has had no incitement and opportunity, to prepare for himself similar scenes of reward? Where is the occupation, mean and ordinary as it may seem, which may not be adorned 281by a virtuous disposition, in which a man may not deserve well of his brethren, and feel himself at times more than commonly rewarded and encouraged? And thus it is only necessary that we sow plentifully in our circumstances and vocation, in order sooner or later to reap plentifully; we must take pains to be and to do that which, in our condition, we ought to be and to do; we need only, according to the advice of the Apostle, do good and not be weary in well-doing, in order to rejoice in due time in the fruits thereof. Yes, it is our own fault, if we only feel the burdensome and painful, and not the agreeable part and the advantages of our situation. It is the fault of our indolence, our selfishness, our sordid passions, if we produce nothing upon the ground that we should cultivate, which might make it valuable and dear to us; for the wise and good Creator has on his part provided with fatherly care, that there shall be for all orders and classes of the people seasons of gladness, seasons of reward and encouragement.

But as the truths, of which the harvest reminds us, certainly abound in instruction for the understanding, and afford us much matter for meditation, so they may not be less beneficial for our hearts and our duties. For every harvest is at once the strongest encouragement to virtue; every harvest cries to us, lastly, Act suitably to thy relations to. wards God, and forget not what thou owest him. 282One is distinguished by the richness of its gifts, by abundance and blessing; it loads us with the good things of the earth, and returns hundred-fold what we had committed to it; it relieves all necessities, supplies all wants, repairs every loss, and leaves no reasonable wish unsatisfied. And what an obligation is not that, to thank God with all our hearts, to acknowledge with emotion of soul his fatherly care and love, to trust unreservedly in him and his providence, and fervently to rejoice in him and the thought of him! What an obligation, worthily to apply his plentiful gifts, to enjoy them with wise moderation, and thereby to become better, more perfect, and more happy! What an obligation, to let our poorer brethren, his children also, share in these his benefits; to open our hearts to philanthropy, to compassion, to a desire of serving others; after his example to comfort the indigent and make them happy, and thus to present to him those offerings of gratitude, which alone are well-pleasing to him!

But there are also doubtless scanty and gloomy harvests, there are years of scarcity and trouble; there is almost always some country, whose inhabitants see their hopes disappointed. And where this case occurs, it should teach men patience, courage, constancy, and resignation to the will of the Highest; it should promote industry, activity, frugality, abstemiousness, and restriction in the pleasures of sense; it should be a school of exercise, a school 283of trial, a school of affliction, and produce moral advantages, wholesome fruits of righteousness to those who have been tried and improved by it. And how many harvests are there which can neither be ranked amongst the most plentiful, nor amongst those which have entirely failed! those, in which one description of crop yields well, and another miscarries; those, which from these or other causes may be called moderately good. And such harvests call to us, Be satisfied O man, and contented with what thou hast; do not always ask for every thing in abundance, as if thou hadst a right to it, and couldst prescribe laws to the Lord of nature; modestly receive what he gives thee, and dispute not his goodness, on account of that which he withholds. They cry to us, Think on this and that fruitful year, on that extraordinary produce of thy fields and gardens; compare thyself with so many others, who, in certain districts, have gathered in far less than thou; demand nothing impossible, and desire not that the great expectations which the first view of blooming fruits excites, shall always be fulfilled. Such harvests call to us, Know that nature operates according to eternal and invariable laws; that the same weather which favours one crop, is often injurious to another; that it is, therefore, folly and want of sense not to take seasons and things as they are.

And now, my Christian hearers, make the application 284to yourselves, and to this year’s harvest; hear its call and lay it to heart, in order faithfully and willingly to follow it; resolve here under the eyes of God, in this temple dedicated to his worship, and in this hour sacred to your duty, to preserve this delightful contentedness. Forget not how much good a but moderate harvest comprehends, and what cause you have, even in the present year, to be thankful to your heavenly Father. Consider, that those fruits, which, as the most indispensable of all, maintain the highest value, and regulate the price of other necessaries of life, have nothing less than failed, but rather on all sides have richly prospered: consider too the fact that the late unusual dearness has not been occasioned by the parsimony of nature, as if this liberal mother had now exhausted her stock; but that the all-wasting war unavoidably brings with it this evil also. Be not then distrustful of God, whose bountiful hand is still, as formerly, opened to do good; and acknowledge it to be a proof of his providential care, that so many years of the most sanguinary contest, and the most terrible devastation, have not swallowed up far more good, and been productive of much greater and more general misery. No, be not distrustful of God, who has furnished us with such various means for our welfare, and for the cheerful enjoyment of life; and to this end recollect to-day, on the feast of 285the harvest, what the activity of man can effect. Feel, indeed, your dependence on Him, who must make every thing prosper if it shall succeed; but rejoice also in his superintendence and government, since he manifestly provides for all conditions and classes of the people seasons of gladness, seasons of reward and encouragement. And honour him, therefore, by grateful contentment, by a filial pious disposition, and by a wise and appropriate use of that which is allotted you. Let the harvest of this year encourage you to a faithful and conscientious discharge of your duties. Let it be and remain to you the voice of God, an incitement to reflection; and may it bring you profit for the understanding and the heart, fruit unto life eternal! Amen.