Project Gutenberg's The Spirit Proper to the Times., by James Walker

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Spirit Proper to the Times.
A Sermon preached in King's Chapel, Boston, Sunday, May 12, 1861.

Author: James Walker

Release Date: June 24, 2008 [EBook #25894]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPIRIT PROPER TO THE TIMES. ***

Produced by Gerard Arthus and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from scanned images of public domain material
from the Google Print project.)

The Spirit Proper to the Times.

A SERMON

PREACHED IN KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON,

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 1861.

BY

JAMES WALKER, D.D.

PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE WARDENS OF THE SOCIETY.

BOSTON:
PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND & AVERY,
NO. 3 CORNHILL.
1861.

SERMON.

"With such sacrifices God is well pleased."--_Hebrews_ xiii. 16.

I am to speak of public spirit, as manifested in a willingness to make
sacrifices for the public good.

The necessity for making sacrifices would seem to be founded in this:
as we cannot have every thing, we must be willing to sacrifice some
things in order to obtain or secure others. Wicked men recognize and
act upon this principle. Can you not recall more than one person in
your own circle of acquaintances who is sacrificing his health, his
good name, his domestic comfort, to vicious indulgences? Worldly
people recognize and act upon this principle. Look at that miser: he
is hoarding up his thousands and his tens of thousands, but in order
to do so, is he not sacrificing every thing which makes life worth
having? It is a mistake to suppose that religion, or morality, or the
public necessities, ever call upon us to make greater sacrifices than
those which men are continually making to sin and the world, to
fashion and fame, to "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life."

In times of ease, and abundance, and tranquillity, the public takes
care of itself. There are few sacrifices on the part of individuals
for the public good, because there are few occasions for such
sacrifices. They are not made becau