In my own profession, the biography of pious and devoted men has long been regarded as one of the most profitable lines of reading. It has been felt that the knowledge of truth is likely to be most effective when combined with its application, and exhibited in practice; and as example is generally admitted to be more powerful than precept, and men are more easily led to imitate than to obey; the memorials of those who have been eminent for zeal and holiness in the work of the ministry, have been multiplied largely of late years, and are recommended with confidence as among the most effectual means of raising the tone of feeling and determining the line of practice among the clergy. In this respect, every year adds to the resources of the church. Those who are removed from this field of labour testify to the living. One generation contributes the encouragement of its experience to the other; and each pious, faithful, and zealous minister, whose labour and self-devotion are commemorated in this way, leaves in the record of his example that which may strengthen the faith, or stimulate the energies of those who are to follow him.
But while the church as a profession, is receiving this increasing advantage, and sees its means of improvement enlarged by the recollections of those who are removed from their field of suffering or of labour; there is reason to presume that other professions are not equally benefited by the biographies of their distinguished members. They also have their memorials. The world is anxious to learn the particulars of their early life and education, as well as of their subsequent achievements; and those who are called to imitate their example or to rival their exertions, are naturally desirous to study the secret of their excellence in the causes which conduced to it. But in cases such as these, in the narratives of men who have been distinguished in the naval and military services, or even in the profession of law or medicine, it is natural that professional excellence should form the chief object of attention to those who write, as it is probable it will be the chief object of interest to those who read. The soldier and the sailor, the lawyer and the physician are described, rather than the man; and the qualities which raised the individual to distinction, are in these cases so separate from those, which formed his value as a man, that it is possible the latter may be wholly lost sight of, while every effort is being made to do justice to the former. There is danger, therefore, in all such memorials, that much that is great and good in the individual, may be merged in the merits of the officer, or in the brilliancy of the career pursued in practice; and that private excellence, that which constitutes the real foundation of the man’s value, and makes his life most profitable as an example, may be lost sight of, while justice is being done to that which only made him an ornament to his profession, or an instrument of national advancement.
In a clergyman on the contrary, the chief if not the only claim that he can possess on the recollection of others, the only sense in which his life can be held up as an example to those of his own profession, consists in his personal piety; in the remembrance of that eminence to which the grace of God had raised him, as a holy, humble-minded, faithful man; and that is, therefore, told of him, and that is dwelt upon in him, which it is most useful for other men to know, but which is equally and alike useful to all of every profession and of every rank. The world estimates its heroes by a different rule, and looks in consequence to qualities of a different kind. It dwells on that which is professional to the exclusion of that which is personal. It dwells on those things which catch the eye, and fill the ear, and arrest the imagination; while that which passes within, that which constitutes moral eminence, and which renders a man a model for a Christian to follow, is overlooked in the more exciting narrative of contests for distinction, as irrelevant to the character which is being exhibited; and thus, the benefit of example, in cases such as these, is lost to men, because men are more interested in results, than in causes; in the things that have been done, than in the principles of those who did them; and regard the subjects of biography as successful candidates for the world’s applause, rather than as models for private imitation.
It has also sometimes happened, that religious feelings, when strongly developed, have led a man to withdraw from the active duties of his profession, either in the army or navy; and have made his example less profitable to others, by making it less peculiar, less specific than it would have been, if he had continued where he was; and thus, these professions have lost a benefit, which seemed to be their right, by losing those individuals whose moral character would have reflected additional lustre on their public services. It is impossible, indeed, to deny that the first impulse of strong religious conviction, must lead a man to wish to withdraw from every thing that separates him from God; and to live to Him alone, whom he has now found to be alone worth living for. It is equally certain, that the fear of falling back, the dread of being entangled again in sins, which the soul has learnt to hate, may reasonably lead a man to fly from associations, which he knows from experience to be dangerous; and to endeavour to secure his own weakness by saving it from exposure. Excellent men are continually found arguing and acting in this manner; and where the grounds are so reasonable, and the object at stake of such incalculable importance, it is not easy to resist or to controvert their plea. But if some feel it necessary to quit the field, and to withdraw from a contest they are unfit to meet, or in which they see reason to distrust their means of standing firm; the greater must be our gratitude for those who venture to remain, and who dare to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. The testimony that they then bear, is one of peculiar value; and we may venture to hope, that where the danger is considered before it is braved, and man only exposes himself from the conviction of duty, and under the confidence of support from heaven, he will not be allowed to fail. As his days are, so shall his strength be; and we may trust that God, who sees the principle on which the man continues at the post of danger, will not forsake His faithful sentinel, but will make His grace sufficient for his trial, and cause his own strength to be perfected in the weakness of His servant.
On this principle we cannot doubt, that the determination to which Colonel Gardiner came, and in which he was encouraged by the excellent Doddridge, to continue in his original calling, and not to quit the army when he came under deep convictions of religion, has rendered him a far greater blessing to the world, than he could have been, had he yielded to his first impressions, and left the service. His memoir would in that case have remained a record of the unspeakable goodness of God. He might have edified the world by the piety of his life, and he might have been named to succeeding generations as a monument of Divine Grace, rescuing man from the bondage of sin, and plucking him like a brand out of the fire. But the memoir, as it now stands, is rendered still more valuable by the testimony of his later life, and by the evidence it contains to that faith by which he lived; and the power of the grace of God is manifested more signally in upholding him amidst the opposition which he at one time thought himself incapable of meeting, than in enabling him to fly from it at first. Whatever might have been thought then of Colonel Gardiner’s determination at the time, there can be no doubt, that Christ was more nobly confessed in the midst of a sinful and adulterous generation, than He could have been in the retirement of religious life; and that the doctrine of the gospel was more visibly adorned by the example of one, who lived in the world without belonging to the world, than it could have been by the piety which withdrew its subject from general observation, and led him to seek security by withdrawing from the scene of temptation. But it is obvious that the value of such memoirs is enhanced by their rarity. Probably from the causes which have been enumerated, the narratives which exhibit the moral and religious character of men belonging to the army or navy are comparatively few; and those professions in consequence lack the benefit, which example and experience offer in other cases.
But the loss is not confined to them. There are reasons why it may be regarded as a general, a public loss; and why all may have cause to regret that which seems to be a professional want. Whether it be that the character of these two professions, whether it be that the familiarity with danger, the necessity for energetic action and quick decision, carries into the religion they profess, something of its own nature, and leaves its own particular stamp and impress on its qualities; it seems admitted, that the men who have been called by the grace of God to a profession of religion, under such circumstances, have been, generally speaking, marked and decided Christians. It was a centurion of the Roman army to whom Christ bore that noble testimony, that He had not found so great faith, no not in Israel; and we may reasonably think that that power of grace which sets the soul at liberty in cases such as his, and enables it to break the ties by which it has been bound, may go on and carry it to higher attainments than are accessible to other men. But it may be also confidently asserted, that if the testimony which is there borne to truth, is not more clear and decided than in common instances, it is more unquestioned and more unquestionable. The statement that comes from one, born and bred under the influence of religion, is always liable to suspicion. It probably may bear upon its surface some traces of the work of man, in the tone which education has given to the habits of the mind, to the language and opinions; and in that respect, it may seem to want the simplicity which belongs to the works of God, and which shews the source from which the impressions spring. But let the tone of religion be what it may, it carries a sort of professional stamp upon it, and is less appreciated than it ought to be, whenever men think that it is the effect of circumstances, the result of care, and that it could not have been otherwise. On the other hand, whenever it happens that conviction is effected under different circumstances, when religion is found growing where it was least expected, and where it is obvious that there was nothing to favour or encourage it; when it is found taking its stand in the midst of opposition and rebuke; overcoming the world by a power which is not of the world, and which the world cannot understand; and enabling a man to resist the persecution of which the world is most sensitive, the persecution of ridicule and contempt, exercised by associates or superiors, and applied with little consideration or regard for feeling; when this is seen to be the case, then we cannot be surprised, if the world is convinced that an influence more than human is at work; while it sees that done, which seems to be impossible to man; and men are compelled to feel that it is the power of God by which the change is effected, while they see a change accomplished, which to them, and according to their own views and feelings, is nothing less than miraculous. The unwillingness of the heart to admit a truth which involves its own condemnation, will naturally induce men to suppress the acknowledgement of what they feel on such occasions. But the conviction may be deep, though no confession follows. The testimony which is borne to truth under circumstances such as these, will possess an authority and weight which nothing else can give, from a sacred and unuttered reverence of the power that has produced it; and the results may be perceived at distant times and in distant places, when the facts had been forgotten by all, except the persons who had appeared at first most opposed or most indifferent.
But beyond these reasons, which may shew the value of the memoirs of men belonging to the naval and military professions, it cannot be denied that the situations in which such men are placed, and those qualities which may be called their professional qualities, must add an interest to the narrative; and make their examples more profitable, in proportion as their lives have been more interesting. The narrative of hardships endured, of dangers braved, has always been one of the most legitimate sources of delight. The description of man rising superior to the fear which overcomes and subjugates others; daring things, from which other men shrink; and making a way through difficulties which seemed insuperable; has ever possessed a charm which no other narrative could rival; and while human nature remains what it is, and the world is constituted as it is, the qualities of courage, energy, and activity, will give an interest to the character with general readers, which the higher graces of humility, patience, and love might be incapable of imparting. But as it is important that truth should be presented in the form most likely to secure its acceptance, no opportunity should be lost which offers religion to the eyes of the world in the history of those, whom it respects and admires for excellencies of another kind; and whenever religion is combined with these, it is little less than an absolute duty to give publicity to the character, and to admit the world to benefit by the example.
Whatever then be the quality which excites admiration, whether it be professional talent, or intellectual superiority; or whether it be simply that energy of mind which enables man to overcome difficulties and to struggle through trials; the certainty that the exhibition of such a character will be read with interest, makes it valuable as a vehicle for truth; and renders it desirable that such a vehicle should be improved. But we must also feel that of all the various qualities which have this effect, and which may in consequence be turned to such a purpose, there is hardly one which arrests attention so generally, and carries so much interest with it to common readers, as boldness or contempt of danger. All men cannot appreciate the higher qualities of mind, the powers of reasoning or imagination, which lead to literary or political eminence; but all seem capable of understanding the value of that sort of firmness which enables man to bear hardships, or to rise superior to fear. It thus has happened, that in all works of fiction, courage has been the principal feature of the character held up to admiration, and cowardice has always been regarded as the reverse; while we know that in real life, no narratives have been so acceptable to general readers, as those which described dangers and hardships met and overcome by the firmness and energy of those, who were exposed to them.