The fast and the cholera : a sermon, preached in the Unitarian chapel, Boston, on Tuesday, September 25th, 1849, (being the day agreed upon to be observed in the borough, as a day of fasting and humiliation, in consequence of the extreme prevalence of the cholera) / by James Malcolm, ... to which is appended, a brief, practical view of the Asiatic cholera, by A.G. Malcolm, M.D.

Malcolm, James, 1811-1855.

Date:: 1849

Credit: The fast and the cholera : a sermon, preached in the Unitarian chapel, Boston, on Tuesday, September 25th, 1849, (being the day agreed upon to be observed in the borough, as a day of fasting and humiliation, in consequence of the extreme prevalence of the cholera) / by James Malcolm, ... to which is appended, a brief, practical view of the Asiatic cholera, by A.G. Malcolm, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$from experience, or the Christian religion, to believe that such are exceptions to the general rule of moral responsi¬ bility and probation, and are selected for signal punishment before the great decisive day? If the few of these classes that suffer in their sins are to be marked out by us as ob¬ jects of a Divine judicial visitation, the multitudes that escape might with equal reason be adduced in favour of a conclusion at w hich all piety revolts. Oh ! let us remem¬ ber, my friends, that we are now living under an ordinary state of Providence, and no longer under a dispensation of miracles and prophecy, in accordance with which, we are told, judgments, emphatically so called, were often inflict¬ ed by the hand of God. Besides, ive, who would thus venture to interpret the Divine dispensations, are not in the same position with the sacred historians who profess to reveal to us the very objects and intentions of the Deity. They claimed to behold the secrets of Providence, and in every event the moral reason that explains and justifies it. But until ive have the same power and authority, let us be¬ ware of confounding acts performed and interpreted under a Theocracy, with similar appearances in times in which we have ceased to be educated by sensible manifestations, and let us not dare with erring judgment to measure out the Divine dispensations. How do we know that the pes¬ tilence that now afflicts us, may not be an instrument of general good, though of individual evil,—of permanent blessing, though of temporary sulfering ? It has been, and promises to be still further, a source of much eventual so¬ cial improvement, by exciting a greater regard for the de¬ cency, comfort, and elevation of the multitude. Let us not, then, attempt to be wiser than God; but, in humble confi¬ dence in his unfailing justice and goodness, endeavour to conform ourselves more to his will, search into his laws, and apply them according to our condition and our wants— according to our duty to Him, and our relation to the world in which we live. It is gratifying to observe, that in these sentiments I am fully ])orne out by one of the highest dignitaries of the Lstablislied (’liiirch. Dr. Wliateley, Archbishop of Dub¬ lin, whose words must ever carry much w^eight and autlio- rity, in a recent charge to Ids (flergy, tlius speaks :— member fthe tongue) which was then employed in hlas{)heming his Maker. I’hns can the T^ord engage one of the meanest of his crea¬ tures in reproving the bold transgressor who dares to take his name in vain.”—Ib.$

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