The following begins our files:

In BOSTON, JUNE ,7, 1802

OFFICERS.

By ABIEL ABBOT

PRINTED BY RUSSELL AND CUTLER,

1802.

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Excerpt Pg. 17 How to commit NATIONAL SUICIDE:

"What then would that government deserve to have said of it, which should level the bulwarks of the country on every side ; prepare an easy ingress and egress for every plunderer, who might be tempted by the defenceless state of the country to ravage it ; demolish its forts on the land, and sink, or fell, or give to the worms its wooden walls by sea; disband its necessary troops; empty its treasury; and choke the grand channel of resource, its commerce; which should even seem to invite the citizens to bite and devour one another with impunity by barring the sacred doors of public justice, or by delivering the keys of them to dependent judges. This some might call State suicide."

Abiel ABBOT, ( b. 1765; 1859.) He was graduated at Harvard in 1787, taught in Phillips Andover academy until 1789, In 1794 he was tutor of Greek in Harvard. STD. 1838, Harvard.

Page numbers in the original are shown in brackets as [ 2 ]

The following begins the original text:

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FOR no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it—

is an observation, adduced in the Apostle’s discourse to the Ephesians, vth. ch. 29th. v. with the particular design, to enforce the duty of a tender and vigilant action in husbands for their wives. At the same time, it is an indirect assertion of that great law of nature, few preservation, which is a subject, suggested by the present military anniversary.

THE principle asserted in that text is that every man has a disposition, woven into his constitution by the hand of his Creator, to preserve his being. This disposition or passion, is the law of his nature; and, correctly understood, is paramount to all other laws. This principle, differently modified, is discernible through the works of God. Inert matter is endowed with it, tending for preservation to the grand centre. The

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vegetable kingdom manifests a selfish concern for preservation, and even intimates the design of defence; the bush sends out a thorn to guard the rose. The tribes of animals discover the principle in higher perfection. Every species is furnished with peculiar armor, and with instinct to employ it on every necessary occasion. The paw, the horn, the sting, are trained to battle, and are ever exerted to repel or annoy the assailant. When active defence is less possible, as in the turtle, the animal shrinks into his firm castle, in hope to brave the danger, which he can neither defeat nor escape.

BUT in man, this principle appears in the highest perfection, directed by superior wisdom and supported by superior power. It is the grand principle, which sustains the human world, as essential to the general preservation, as gravitation to the consistence of the material universe. Human sagacity can imagine no substitute, that should operate with equal effect. A certain portion of vigilance and exertion is necessary to support the parts of the human world; by this law it is diffused through the whole extent, in proper measure, and made to bear at every point with a force just equal to the desirable effect. How vain then is that philosophy, which is a virtual denial of this law; which inculcates a neglect of self, and a superior vigilance for extraneous being ;—

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which despite partial attachment to kindred and to country, enjoining and vaunting a futile benevolence to beings beyond the reach of private influence. What is this, but to let the human world in that same rushing chaos, in which the Epicureans fancied the atoms of the material world, before they chanced to fall into their present beautiful and magnificent arrangement.

WE may consider the law or duty, suggested by the text, in a personal and also in a social view. Considering it in a personal view, two observations are important.

1 st. As man has not the right of disposing of his life.

SUICIDE is a crime even more nefarious, than murder ; because a man’s own life is to him a more sacred charge, than the life of another; and because a man cannot be defended against himself. A similar distinction of the grades of guilt is observed in the civil code. Theft is a crime of secondary magnitude; but theft from the tenters of the clothier and the pits of the tanner is capital. Property in these situations is necessarily exposed to the plunderer, and therefore demands the guard of stronger terrors.

THE text seems to assert the impossibility of suicide, perpetrated by a man in his right mind.— The sentiment is just; and there can never be a doubt of the madness of a felo.de-se, judging by

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the facts alone.. This concession however is not intended an apology for the deed in every case. There is a frantic, and, if the term be allowed, there is a sober madness. Absolute frenzy suspends the accountability of man; there is often no security against it, and no remaining self power to direct or restrain it. Accident or disease may extinguish the light of the soul, and in the dark the fatal deed may be executed. In that case, suicide is not to be considered in a moral light ; it is accident.

THERE may be a sober madness, the result of reasoning pride, stimulated by ungoverned passions. But the atrocity of suicide is in no degree diminished by madness, effected by the habitual perversion of reason, which brings a man to atheism, while there is demonstration of Deity, and to believe in annihilation, while the proofs of immortality are clear, as the sunbeams.

To guard the sacred trust of life, we must shun the poison of skepticism. Unhinge the soul from principles; efface the awe, which is felt by the sense of Deity; deny the object of christian faith or even imagine the joys of the future state distributed, without reverence to character and desert, and the fortress of life is carried.— Then a mans rash hand shall be raised against his own existence so soon as real or imaginary misfortunes render him weary of it.

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2.—A MAN may not expose his life to be taken by another.

THE force of this observation is naturally felt, and, in its general tenor, needs no remark or enforcement. The sensibility and vigilance of a man are ever tremblingly awake to defend his life from assault. With the least apprehension of danger, he fortifies himself with locks by night, and with arms by day. He is patient of watching and fatigue, and lavish of treasure; for all that a man hath will he give for his life. (a) What then will you think of the man, who exposes himself a mark for a sportsman to fire at, whether in whim or in anger? Is he not insane? Will you not consider him with the felo-de-se, and pity him as the subject of frenzy, or turn with disgust and horror from him, as the subject of sober madness ?

DUELLING has more advocates, than murder, or suicide; but it is difficult to see with what argument. The evils resulting from it are of wider extent and often of deeper malignity. It is the whim of the duellist to stab his friend; to select for his sacrifice the filial prop of declining years; to snatch the husband and father from a dependent and unoffending family, and thus to plunge them in distraction and lasting wretchedness. And for what? The answer gives another feature of duelling. For a misplaced word; for a word too

(a) job, ii. 4.

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much, or too little; for any thing, and for no thing. Such are the occasions of most duels, of which we hear. The veriest trifles have been thought serious enough, to put life in contest; and offences the most incidental stains upon honor deep enough, to be wasted away with blood,— Honor! What is that honor, which muss be supported by duelling? Which demands, like Molock, its human victims? Is it a thing estimable? What virtues does it assemble and exercise ?— What benefits does it achieve? If these questions must have their answer, may it not be said that it implies cowardice oftener, than true courage, and meanness of spirit more than magnanimity? It certainly implies a heart, inexorable to the calls of friendship and the cries of humanity.

" BUT character is dearer than life." What is that character worth, which requires the defence of the sword? If this be all that can save it, there is room for suspicion that it is not of the best kind. It is time to drop this antiquated plea for duelling, a relic of the age of chivalry. In that day of darkness, the accused threw the gaunt let to the accuser, and the event of combat was thought a certain decision of guilt and of innocence. Contemporary with this savage judiciary was the trial by ordeal; by which the accused appeased to Heaven to attest his innocence by walking blindfold over hot bars of iron. By

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what fatality has duelling survived the trial by ordeal? They are equally absurd; had their origin in the same dark age; and should have been buried together among the same soul rubbish. It is a noble sentiment, " character is dearer than life ;" but to die, as a fool dieth, cannot save it.

"BUT what shall be done, when reputation is aspersed by malicious slander, and sensibility is. outraged by open indignity? Must we remain tame and passive under injuries of the keenest point." This is not necessary. Trifles ought ever to be passed in a dignified silence ; for better is he that ruleth his spirit ,than he that taketh a city.(b) But if injuries have been with design inflicted, sufficiently serious to require the resort, there are legitimate and honorable means of defence and retaliation. The law is open, and there are deputies ; let them implead one another.(c) Which is most magnanimous, to be witness, judge, and executioner in your own cause ; or to refer it to a dispassionate tribunal?.

THE case is clear; duelling is absurd, and with all its horrors, ridiculous, as the salve of an injured reputation, the only light, in which it is ever defended. The substance of character is virtue, and the stamp of it public opinion. A duel, as it is prohibited by the laws of God and of society, far from sustaining, is the forfeiture of both.

(b) Prov. xvi. 32. (c) Acts, xix. 38.

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TO regard this subject simply as absurd and ridiculous is not enough ; duelling claims to be considered in the more solemn light, as a flagrant crime. Not to enlarge on this point, it may be remarked that a challenge is only a fashionable invitation of a man to give to his enemy or friend a fair opportunity to murder him; and to accept the challenge is to reciprocate the guilt. A duel is murder and suicide in heart ; terminating fatally is one or both in act:. For to give and take life, without the awful call of law and right, can certainly deserve no milder names. Viewed in this just light, with what indignation ought society to pursue the duelist; and what fearful judgement awaits him at that tribunal, from Which there is neither escape nor appeal. The sentence is already announced—No murderer bath eternal life. (d)

AS New-England has not wholly escaped tincture from corrupt opinions and manners of elder states, and of some parts of our own country, possibly some military gentlemen may think the preacher intruding upon the privilege of the profession of arms. But these observations are so strictly among the duties of his own profession, that to have omitted them on this subject might have been more criminal in him, than flattering to them.

*I John iii. 15

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IT remains to consider the principle of self preservation in a social view.

SOCIETY itself is an emanation of this principle. It was sound by experience that the weak were not secure from the stronger, nor the simple from the more subtle. The earnings of the industrious were frequently plundered; liberty was wrested from the free ; and life itself was the victim of lawless and malicious power. These evils led to the social compact. It was first a family combination, in which the several individuals concentrated their force to be disposed for the common preservation by the wisdom of the patriarch. This association was soon enlarged and became national, embracing the families of one or of several tribes, as hostile power grew formidable. They deposited their strength in an administration by one, a few, or many, accordingly, as the royal, aristocratic, or popular form of government seemed to them the most secure and least oppressive.

SELF preservation, considered in the social light, implies duties from the individual to the community, and from the community to the individual. In the individual it is naturally and justly exerted with a force strong or weaker in proportion to the distance from himself of the objects, which engage it, embracing kindred, country, and human kind; like the stone cast into the bosom of the peaceful lake, whole

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undulations, at first strongly marked, grow fainter and fainter, as their circle enlarges, till they reach the most distant shores. At first his object is the security of a family. To this the call of nature and of revelation is alike loud, He, that provideth not for those of his own house, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.(e)

TO this endeared circle however, it is not confined; it next embraces country, and then is called patriotism. The subject of its genuine influence pursues the true interests of his nation with steady zeal and manly exertion. He feels a portion of the sacred enthusiasm, which animated the captive patriot in Babylon, when he exclaimed— If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.(f)

THE love of country is a noble passion. It becomes the humblest station, and, without it, the most exalted man is the most infamous. It may be equally efficient in the gown and in the cuirass; and equally honorable, exerted by the citizen, the magistrate, or the soldier. It implies much; it is piety, ever awake against atheistic and libertine principles and manners, those certain miners of the fabric of society. In an elective government, it is vigilance and activity at all times, and particularly on the great occasions of elevating men to office. Then it will not

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neglect privilege and duty, through the considerations of private convenience or business, nor be diverted from the best men, by bribery in any of its forms of allurement or of terror. It is sub million in the citizen to elected authority, without a captious and complaining humor; yet tempered with an independence, which will speak and be heard, when there is treachery, whether in the humble or in the high. In the magistrate, it is integrity, and impartiality, and magnanimous policy, planning with extensive views for the good of the country, without a secret selfish seeking of profit or of honor to the public injury.

THESE are the duties, which the law of self preservation requires from the individual to society. Society, in return, is obligated to protect him in the peaceful enjoyment of life and property from foreign enemies and domestic outlaws. Government is the arm of society to ensure the blessing. Thus the whole community becomes centinel to preserve the individual ; which suggests the remark, that in society alone we can render the most perfect compliance with the great law of our nature.

MULTITUDINOUS are the benefits resulting from society. Yet they are not so many or so perfect, as a theorist might anticipate. It is not always the case that government discharges its duty. Its policy is sometimes rash, and some

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times pusillanimous; sometimes proud, and sometimes mean. Governments indeed have been seen at times actuated by the same prejudices, caprices, and even madness, which in individuals have resulted in duelling and suicide.

WHEN a State, relying on its resources and prowess, wages war from trifling cause, to secure precedence to an ambassador; to avenge an incidental indecorum offered to its flag; or even to secure an advantage by sea or land, to which perhaps its right is doubtful, and which, if attained, is not worth the cost; or especially if it be to make a common cause with a favorite belligerent nation, while both policy and obligation demand neutrality; what is this but for legislators, in the long robes of peace, to enter the lists, like private madmen, and to whelm in their own indecent quarrels the millions of their countrymen, whom it was their duty to have secured from the calamity. This is State duelling.

IT is not suggested that war is never necessary; there are times, when it is a sacred duty. Government is solemnly charged with the defence of the country. It is their office to discern danger afar off, and in season to cast the shield over their charge. Never may they remit their vigilance; never may they slight the means of defence. They may not wait till they see hostility in bodily shape moving towards them; they

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must stand prepared for contingencies ; be so guarded, that they cannot be surprized; and so armed, that they may never tempt an assailant to try his fortune among them. They should be provident, as the head of a family, who will not slumber, before the lives and treasure of the household are secured with bolts and bars, and, in the moment of special danger, with faithful sentinels ; for he judges well that the expense of these is a cent, compared with the loss, which may be incurred without them. What then would that government deserve to have said of it, which should level the bulwarks of the country on every side ; prepare an easy ingress and egress for every plunderer, who might be tempted by the defenceless state of the country to ravage it ; demolish its forts on the land, and sink, or fell, or give to the worms its wooden walls by sea; disband its necessary troops; empty its treasury; and choke the grand channel of resource, its commerce; which should even seem to invite the citizens to bite and devour one another with impunity by barring the sacred doors of public justice, or by delivering the keys of them to dependent judges. This some might call State suicide.

IT is lamentable that war is at any time necessary; that small States are envious, and the great ambitious, and all by mutual jealousy dii7 posed to frequent rupture. It were a

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consummation devoutly to be wished that national differences might be adjusted by the force of enlightened reason and fair justice, and that in no case the appeal might be made to the sword— which determines not superior right, but superior power. Yet while the disposition of governments remains, as it has generally been since the commencement of distinct communities, it is absolutely necessary that the most virtuous and pacific state should hold the sword in one hand, while invitingly it extends the olive-branch in the other.

THE sword of government is her soldiers.— Old and wealthy States support their standing armies. Our young and prudent country relies on her militia. If this be composed of enlightened freemen, of the lovers of law and of order, of men, who estimate their birthright, it is the best defence in the world. In the day of battle, their wives and children, their houses and lands, are hostages with their country that they will be faithful and valiant. The danger is that their guns will rust in the season of peace; that while pressed by no necessity, they will lose the pride of discipline and become impatient of subordination; and thus will require more, than to be levied, when their country has instant need of their service. But the hand, which wields this sword, we trust will preserve it bright.

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THE present is not a time to relax attention to the soldiery of the country. Peace indeed has :been proclaimed in Europe ; we felicitate humanity on the occasion. Yet it is by no means certain what influence the event may have upon America. Such is the internal state of a formidable nation in Europe, that domestic policy, if not ambition, may kindle the flame of foreign war, to draw from the bosom of the country and to amuse and employ men, dangerous to the ruling power. In the case of war renewed in the old world, the same or greater arts may be practised, and, it is possible, more successfully to render the United States a party. Should the peace be permanent, it may occasion the emigration or exile of a numerous body of men, who may prove turbulent citizens or hostile neighbors. In any event, we need the awe and support of a militia, which can suddenly assume the front, the order, and determination of veterans.

If necessity shall compel the nation to arms, to defend our hearths and our altars, let NewEngland again be sound the foremost and the firmest guard of the country. Let her embattled troops renew the glory of the war for independence, and receive from the future Washington, as they did from the dear sleeping hero, the praise of being his chief confidence,

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MASSACHUSETTS has ever paid a laudable attention to her militia. The Commander in Chief, by his general orders and animating presence at general reviews, renders to the troops and the country eminent .service. It deserves special remark that the government of the State has honored with peculiar regard, for more than a century and a half, the respectable company, whose solemnites are this day celebrated; has cherished it as a school of military talent, exercise, and subordination. The rule of alternate command and submission, peculiar to the company, is truly republican. Here the hoary veteran, who has commanded his thousands in the day of battle, and whose casts are ensigns of service to his country, submitting with pleasure to the order of his junior in arms, gives an example of subordination, which should crimson the cheek of the malcontent in the ranks of the militia.

We congratulate the Captain, the subaltem Officers, and Privates, of the Antient and Honorable Artillery Company, on the return of their joyful anniversary, the hundred and sixty third in order. The preservation of your company in respectability to this day evinces an honorable constancy in a good purpose, and an independence of that spirit of change and demolition, which marks the age, in which in your hands we live. In your hands

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is reposed a sacred trust of no small consequence to the good of the country. The savor, with which you are regarded both by government and the eye of the public, gives you high influence, as military men. Ye are a city set on an hill, which cannot be hid; let your light shine around you.— With propriety and confidence, it will be expected from a military association, which is honored and patronized by the State, and which is venerable by the many patriotic and christian characters, recorded in its muster roll from age to age, that it be an example to the soldiery of the country; an example not only in promptitude and correctness of exercise and discipline ; but also in principles and manners, as soldiers and as men. The Commonwealth must rely not less upon the principles, than the arms of her soldiers. To you the friends of the country look for an example of enlightened patriotism ; of cheerful submission to law ; of affectionate respect for civil authority; and of the deepest reverence for piety, the only impregnable bulwark of of rights and felicity. From you the friends of humanity may expect an influence, which need be exerted by military gentlemen of approved courage and character, to.. discountenance, to stigmatize the savage practice of duelling. Inspire the generous youth of the Capital with noble and virtuous sentiments. Bid them imitate the true bravery of the great

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Turenne, who would meet his challenger no where, but in the breach of death, to which duty permitted them to repair. Bid them imitate the greater Washington, whose sword, ever drawn in the cause of his country, was never stained in a private quarrel; who, once betrayed into an indecorum, a singularity in his glorious life, prevented a duel by a magnanimous acknowledgement. Gentlemen, may your company long maintain its charter, its respectability, and a just influence in the state. In the time of peace, may you be preparing for war.; and in the time of war, be distinguished among the best enlightened and bravest defenders of your country.

AFTER all that has been said to this respected auditory, on personal and social preservation, the .necessity of the means is humiliating. These splendid ensigns of blood and slaughter, the sword, the halberd, and the thundering cannon, show the degeneracy of human nature. Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts ?(g) But the time will come, O speed it, Almighty love and grace, when this nature shall be renovated and become just and gentle.; when, in the lofty language of prophesy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The sucking child shall play on the

( g ) James ch. iv . v. I

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hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.(h) Let us cherish the gospel in our hearts, and supplicate its extension through the world. This, this is the charm, which alone can soothe the hostile passions, and of the whole world form one country, one holy city, one affectionate brotherhood. Its influence shall spread, till are seen what its heavenly heralds song—GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.

Major GEORGE BLANCHARD, Lieutenant.

Mr. JONATHAN LORING, Ensign.

Gen. JOHN WINSLOW, Treasurer.

Capt. THOMAS CLARK, Clerk.

Mr. JOSHUA GARDNER,

Mr. ELISHA DAVENPORT,

Mr. BENJAMIN WEST,

Mr. WILLIAM JEPSON,

Mr. JAMES PHILLIPS, Captain.

Mr. WILLIAM ALEXANDER, Lieutenants

Mr. JOHN HOWE, jun. Ensign.

Gen. JOHN WINSLOW, Treasurer.

Capt. THOMAS CLARK, Clerk.

Mr. MELZAR HOLMES,

Mr. PETER OSGOOD,

Mr. EDWARD B. WALK.R,

Mr. DAVID DEVENS,

A

Sermon

DELIVERED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY

CALEB STRONG, ESQ. Governor

HIS HONOR

EDWARD. H. ROBBINS, ESQ, LT.GOV.

COUNCIL, SENATE,

AND

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

OF THE

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

MAY 25, 1803,

BEING THE DAY OF GENERAL ELECTION.

BY REUBEN PUFFER.

S.T.D., Harvard, 1778

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AT BERLIN.

BOSTON :

PRINTED BY YOUNG AND MINS. MDCCCIII

REPRINTED 1999

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

ORDERED, THAT THE Hon. Daniel Bigelow, Elijah Brigham, and Jonathan Mason, Esquires, be a committee to wait on the Rev. Reuben Puffer, and in the name of the senate, to yhank him for the Sermon he delivered this day before His Excellency the Governour, His Honor the Lieutenant Governour, the Honorable the Council, and the two Branches of the Legislature, and to request of him a copy for the press.

WENDELL DAVIS, clerk.

LUKE XIX. 44.

The origin, progress, decline, and final subversion of civil states, yields a most interesting subject of contemplation. Beheld through the medium of history, they attract the notice, and command the attention of mankind. They are to be regarded as so many monuments erected by the hand of heaven for the benefit of succeeding ages. They point to the causes, by the joint operation of the sources both of human felicity and misery. And they admonish the world to avail itself of the means, by which the latter may be escaped, and the former secured. The history of no nation is more replete with instruction, than that of the Jews; nor can any portion of their national existence be surveyed to greater advantage, than the one under review.

The dispensations of heaven towards this people, connected with their perverse conduct, form a striking contrast. On the one hand, we behold with astonishment the patience and forbearance of Deity; with scarcely less astonishment we view, on the other, a train of provocation, which admits no parallel. At the time of which we are speaking, principles of a dangerous nature and tendency were adopted; a most pernicious fanaticism was prevailing; and such was the prostration of morals, such the unbelief, obstinacy, impiety, and abuse of things civil and sacred, as indicated the approach of some dangerous crisis.

This is a just account of the moral state of the nation at the time of our Savior's advent.

The outrage and violence, experienced by this Divine Teacher, are well known. It was in the foresight of his own death, and of the consequent judgements of heaven, that he uttered the pathetic lamentation, of which the text is the conclusion.

He was now on his last journey to Jerusalem. When that celebrated city opened to his view, which had long enjoyed, and long resisted the efforts of divine goodness and grace; where prophets and righteous men, sent to reclaim them, had cruelly and unjustly suffered; where he himself was shortly to be added to the number of these victims of popular prejudice, it affected him in the most sensible manner. A mingled tide of grief, compassion, and regret rushed upon his mind, and found vent in a flood of tears. " He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying; if thou hadst known, even thou, at least, in this day, the things which belong to thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

These last words assign the reason of that unequalled calamity, which shortly befell this devoted nation. While they lead us to explore the situation occupied by ourselves, they likewise bring into view those principles and habits, which are connected with our safety and happiness.

If we carefully search the records of divine providence, we shall be led to believe that nations, as well as individuals, have their seasons of visitation, when heaven is propitious; when the opportunity and means of happiness are afforded; and when it is in their power, by availing themselves of these advantages, to lay a foundation of solid and lasting prosperity. The entire history of God's ancient people is an illustration of this remark. We scruple not to affirm, that proofs of it exist among all nations. They certainly exist in our own, and claim the attentive consideration of all.

Here it may be pertinently asked, when a people may be said to know the time of their visitation? They know this, when they duly consider the "signs of the times," the character end aspect of divine providence towards them. They know this, when they appreciate present advantages and blessings, and do not hazard the loss of them in the delusive pursuit of a splendid phantom, of romantic schemes of liberty and equality, which can never be realized. Especially, they know this, when they eagerly seize, and diligently improve, the only safe and proper means for establishing national glory and tranquility.

There is a strong resemblance betwixt the character and state of nations, and of individuals. By prudent attention to their affairs, some, among the latter, acquire property, and rise into respectability, while others fall the untimely victims of profligacy. Is there not something resembling this visible among the nations? Pursuing similar courses, they flourish or decline, ascend the heights of prosperity, or rush to the loss of freedom, of independence, and of all those political, civil, moral, and religious blessings, of which they once had the quiet and peaceable enjoyment.

Casting our eyes over those regions celebrated in ancient story, and what is discoverable, but a vast field of human misery and woe, where lie scattered round the broken remains, the prospect varies; brighter scenes, and more pleasing objects surround us. But concealed beneath the specious surface, principles are in operation, which tend to reproduce like disorders and calamities. Names and nations have changed; but their errors remain. New forms of governments have arisen; but the evils which proved fatal to the old were not eradicated. Modern history with respect to ancient, is but a later edition of the wars and revolutions of nations; of struggles for freedom rarely crowned with success; or if in a few instances successful, the objects of which have speedily vanished, and left the people in less eligible circumstances than before. Thousands perish; but nothing worthy the sacrifice is gained to the sum of human happiness. Are we at a loss to account for these things? The solution is to found in the text, "They knew not the times of their visitation".

Rescued from foreign domination by the outstretched arm of Omnipotence, and recently admitted to the honour of an independent existence, the United States now come forward to enjoy their day. Their political probation has commenced. The trial is progressing, and the decision impending, which shall make known, whether they are to be confirmed in the possession and enjoyment of the blessings of a free people, or be deprived of them.

How important is this period! How extensive the benefits, or the evils, that shall eventually flow from it! Posterity, distant generations, the race of man, are deeply concerned in the transactions of this time. These will reflect a bright ray, or cast a dark shade on the ages to come.

No man liveth to himself. We live, we act for those

who shall come after us. The customs, the manners, the habits, the national character now forming, will probably affect posterity of many generations. Their condition will take its complexion from this age. Their rights must descend to them through our hands. If by any neglect or misconduct on our part, these rights, of which we are the trustees and guardians, shall be forfeited and lost to ourselves only, but to our descendants, who, in this respect, will suffer the consequences of their fathers' sins.

Comparing our own with other countries, who can forbear to exclaim; " The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage! Happy art thou, O Israel ; who is like to thee, O people saved by the Lord! " saved " from the lion's mouth, and from the horns of the unicorns." It is pious gratitude, to say, that the blessings of freedom are enjoyed to as high perfection by us, as by any people on the face of the earth; perhaps to as high perfection, as will consist with the security of those blessings. They are not the exclusive privilege of a few: like the light and rain of heaven, they are a common gift, extending their salutary influence to the most distant part, and to the meanest individual. A situation so highly favored, few nations have known. But are we secure of its continuance?

Stands our mountain so strong, that it cannot be removed? Far otherwise. Whenever there shall be a general departure from the principles, which give support and permanency to our national institutions, they will then crumble to atoms.

It seems to be a maxim in the divine government. that

when a people are no longer worthy of freedom, they shall no longer be free; that when they deserve to be slaves, they shall not long remain without their desert.

If such shall be the righteous doom of our country,

which heaven avert ! then will this our day, wherein God hath "visited and redeemed his people," rise, and witness against us. Then, with what anguish will posterity reflect on this period ! In what accents of grief lament the mistakes, the errors, the faults, and the crimes, which combined to rob them poor indeed !

Admitting for a moment the painful suppositions, and methinks I hear some future historian, after contrasting the happiness of our time with the wretchedness of his own, closing his remarks with these poignant reflections.

Happy America, hadst thou known, in the day of thy visitation, the things which belonged to thy peace ! But these were hidden from thine eyes. Agitated by party, and rent by internal dissensions, thy true interests were neglected. Disagreeing about the best means of promoting the public good, the favorable opportunity for effecting this object was suffered to escape unimproved. Now, how art thou fallen! The days of darkness are come upon thee. The glory is departed. Lost is that freedom, which cost thee so dear. Perished are those liberties left in thy possession, and with paternal solicitude recommended to thy care, by the first of patriots and the best of men.

To proceed. The human race claims a share in the

events of this day.

America arrests the attention of all nations. "we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men." The experiment is here making, whether, human guilt and depravity considered, mankind are capable of preserving the spirit, and supporting the form of a free, republican government. God forbid! that the negative should receive its last and decisive proof in us. If, indeed, our opinion were to be formed on past success, we should have reason to tremble for the result. In every instance that can be named, the trial has disappointed the hope of mankind. The singular advantages possessed by us, afford the prospect of a more favorable issue. Remote from the other nations, there is less danger of falling under their influence, or of being involved in their endless disputes. A people dwelling alone, to use the expressive language of scripture, occupy a place of safety unknown to those, whose motions are consequent powerful attraction of larger bodies. Add to this, we have the experience of past ages to guide our inquiries; to disclose hidden dangers; to develop the causes of failure in other instances; to acquaint us with the most probable methods of success; and to point out the course which ought to be pursued.

If with all these advantages the experiment should fail; should America follow the course of former republics, and exhibit only a transient view of liberty, glittering like a meteor for a while, and then totally disappearing, what a dark aspect must it needs have on the common cause of mankind! Would the attempt to establish free governments again be made? Could it again be made on fairer grounds, and with better prospects? Must not the object, for which we have successfully contended be given up, on that contingency, as untenable? However reluctantly, must not the idea of equal liberty be thence-forward relinquished? With the freedom of America, will perish the world's last best hope; and ages will probably pass away ere mankind will have the courage to make a similar effort.

Contemplating the great things God hath done for this land, it imparts a hope that he will not destroy the work of his hands, and that future time shall perfect that which is begun in our day. But we have also our fears.

Will it be said that these fears exist only in a gloomy imagination ? Would to heaven they were ! But if like causes must have like effects; if the eternal creator has so adjusted the relations of things in our world, that, in their general operation, virtue and piety lead to happiness, vice and irreligion terminate in misery ; if, under his government , relaxation of moral principle is a prelude to the defoliation judgements of heaven ; then say, have we not some reason to apprehend that the day will come, ( O that it might be a distant day ! ) which, concerning this noble structure of civil and religious freedom, shall verify our Savior's prediction ; " There shall not be left in thee one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down?"

Solemn words! Who can read or hear them without emotion? Who can think of their past, and not anticipate a future accomplishment? We are as yet upon our probation. The irreversible decree is not yet gone forth. The season of heaven's merciful visitation continues. But if it be suffered to depart unimproved, it departs to return no more.

Lets look on other nations, and receive instruction.

Let those which have fallen from distinguished heights of preeminence, be our monitors. Let us hearken to that voice, with which from the depth of their ruins they cry aloud to us, beware of the errours, that proved our destruction!

Never, it is believed, since the days of the Jewish theocracy, has an equal opportunity for laying a foundation of lasting national happiness been afforded; and never, perhaps, if we except that nation, will another be found so despicable as our own, should we fail to do it. Raised to a high point of elevation, it remains, under providence, with ourselves, whether we shall maintain our allotted station in the political hemisphere; or like a star fallen from its orb, sink toblackness of darkness forever.

The principles and habits connected with national

safety and welfare, come next to be considered.

Among the things that should engage the earliest attention, is correct information, or enlightened views of their state and circumstances.

Knowledge is to a people what the light of the sun is to the world. The general diffusion of accurate sentiments must lead them to a true understanding of the nature, use, and value of their rights; of the dangers that threaten their existence; of the enemies by whom, and the part on which they will most likely be assailed ; and of the means necessary to their preservation.

It is by successfully playing off among them the arts

of deception ; by giving a wrong and perverted turn to public opinion ; by begetting in the minds of the people a jealousy of their best friends, and persuading them to place unbounded confidence in those who have an interest in deceiving them, that their liberties have been usually wretched out of their hands. Here the work of mischief begins; hence originates that rage for innovation, which like a resistless torrent, sweeps away all the defenses of public liberty erected by wisdom and foresight, and in its course demolishes the stablest pillars of social order and happiness.

To ensure safety, and to disappoint the views of disorganizers, a people must keep a steady eye upon their true interests. Cool and dispassionate, yet watchful and circumspect, they must pursue that line of conduct, which, after the best information to be obtained, appears most conductive to the general benefit. Vigilance is the guardian angel of freedom; if that be lulled asleep, this falls an easy prey to the first bold invader.

A patriotic spirit is intimately connected with the

happiness of a people.

This is a branch of the great principle of benevolence; the love of our neighbor extended on the broad scale of the community. It consists not in empty professions, but in actual services. It leads a man to promote the good of the public, by a faithful discharge of the duties of his particular rank and station in society.

What a bright example of genuine patriotism was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ? He gave the best evidence of love to his country, by his incessant labors for its good. The lost sheep of the house of Israel had the benefit of his instruction, of his miraculous operations, and of his prayers. He lamented their infidelity, and wept at the foresight of their impending fate. Though unjustly condemned by an act of public authority, it did not extinguish this patriotic flame. He died, not imprecating vengeance, but interceding heaven for his implacable persecutors. When, after his resurrection, his disciples were sent forth to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation in all the world, he expressly commanded the first offer to be made to his own nation; "beginning at Jerusalem." How unlike was he to some modern patriots, who, amidst the warmest professions of attachment to their country, are industriously aiming at personal emolument? How unlike the spirit manifested by him is that spurious passion, which, usurping the name of patriotism, kindles the torch of war, and spreads desolation over the face of the earth?

So far as love of country is a real virtue, it is recommended by the spirit of the gospel, and sanctioned by the example of the benevolent Savior.

This is an instructive lesson to rulers. With what ardor should they copy the amicable original! To around, their practice should hold this language; " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."

That a people may flourish, they must cultivate industry, frugality, and temperance; and discourage the opposite vices.

Luxury and dissipation, idleness and intemperance, are the well known enemies of freedom. By rendering men unworthy, they make them incapable of this blessing. By debasing their sentiments, and corrupting their principles, they convert them into the instruments of their own degradation.

This remark receives a striking illustration in the

Asiatic countries, where sloth and effeminacy have done that, which, without the aid of such auxiliaries, tyrants could never have effected ; where the retched inhabitants, long degraded to the lowest state of vassalage, have lost the hope, and almost the desire of meliorating their condition.

The liberties of a people will flourish or decline, in proportion as the virtues in question are cherished or forsaken, They impart health to the body, and energy to the mind. They are the pillars of national glory and strength, no less than of individual prosperity.

As the means of gratification multiply with our increasing wealth, it should induce a caution, how we depart too far from the simplicity of former times, the happy age of our fathers; left, with the loss of their domestic virtues, we lose also that independent spirit, the very soul of freedom, which those virtues have bequeathed us.

The manners of men in elevated stations will have a commanding effect. May the speaker therefore be permitted to solicit the influence of their example in aid of those social virtues, which coexist with the prosperity of a people, and the progress of whose ruin will be marked with their decline.

Union and harmony are the safeguard of a people;

disunion animosity a source of danger.

Amidst the prevalence of party, the common good too often ceases to be an object. In the heat of altercation, men forget they have a country; forget they have liberties, which must be secured and defended by union. More intent upon carrying some favourite point, or in mortifying an opponent, than in doing what the substantial interests of the community render necessary, they seem not to profess to have a heart, are weakened and exposed.

Should jealousy and discord prevail to that degree in

these states, as to blind their eyes to the common advantage, and lead them in pursuit of separate objects, the connecting bond, which now unites them into one people, will be quickly dissevered. Whenever that event shall take place, instead of being a respectable nation, we shall be broken into a number of unconnected parts, among which a destructive rivalship of interfering interests will continue to exist, until some one popular leader, more successful than his competitors, shall make himself master of the whole. Thus ended the quarrels between the Grecian States, in the dominion of a Philip, and of an Alexander.

To what is the instability of free governments owing? And by what means have they usually been subverted? By ambitious men fomenting jealousies, and sowing the seeds of disunion among the people, until, availing themselves of the scenes of confusion that ensued, they found means to seize on their liberties, and left them nothing to contend about. By arts like these, after long and violent convulsions, the enormous fabric of the Roman Commonwealth sunk at length into one universal, unqualified despotism.

Much does it concern every true friend of his country

and of man, to guard against this pernicious evil ; to repress the virulence of party ; to shun irritation ; to

promote, to the utmost, union, harmony, and a mutual good understanding. Embarked in the common cause of freedom, how criminal shall we be to endanger it by our dissentions? Members of the same body, how unnatural our conduct, when actuated by disuniting, dissocial passions? " If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Act by this rule, " As free, yet not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God."

The choice of rulers is another thing, which nearly

affects the well being of a state.

The right of suffrage is one of the most important exercised by a free people. Language must fail to express the ill effects of a negligent, careless use of this privilege. If many forbear to act, if many more act without a due regard to the characters and principles of candidates, public stations will be filled by men who do not merit the distinction. It will be still worse, if the exercise of this privilege shall fall under the influence of intrigue and management. For then there will exist in fact a secret, invisible power in the bottom of the state ; an active principle, the effects of which bid defiance to calculation ; the germ of revolution ; the source of those numberless mischiefs, by which free governments are disturbed, convulsed, and overthrown. Our liberties will perish, they will then perish, when elections shall be conducted on principles, and be influenced by motives foreign to the public welfare.

A wise, upright, energetic administration, is essential to the honour, safety, and happiness of a people. While it commands respect abroad, it will secure internal peace, order, and tranquility. But when weakness, timidity, and irresolution hold, with a palsied hand, the reigns of government, the evil affects the entire system, and is felt in the remotest extremities. Public proceedings bear evident marks of languor, indecision, want of consistent plan, and neglect to seize the advantage of existing circumstances. In this state of things there is much to fear, nothing to hope. The general tendency is to anarchy and dissolution. Patriotism weeps over the declining glories of her country, and with keen sensations of grief realizes her exposure to foreign insult, and to unrestrained domestic disorders.

This view of a feeble administration must evince the

mportance of raising to office, those who possess energy and strength of mind to support the dignity of government, and to protect the rights of the people.

If it be demanded, what the qualifications of good

rulers are ; and how the people are to be directed in the

choice of such? Let inspired scripture give the answer. "Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them."

That rulers must be "able men," possessing a competency of natural and acquired accomplishments, is universally agreed. The necessity of religious principle has been contested. But if it be this, which gives direction and force to other principles; which adds dignity and worth to character; Which lifts men to noble heights of virtue, to look with disdain on every mean artifice, on every base, dishonest, immoral practice; then, if this be set aside, no sufficient security remains for the fidelity of rulers; and there is reason to apprehend the abuse of power, and breach of public trust, so oft as the prospect of personal advantage, aided by the belief of concealment, or the hope of impunity, shall present the temptation. Allow to other principles all that can be justly said on their behalf; still this will have a preponderating influence, over which no sinister motive can prevail.

Bearing in mind the tribunal of the Supreme Judge, before which rulers and great men must stand, as well as those of meaner rank, awed and impressed with the solemn thought, they will aim to be "the ministers of God for good;" and to answer the design of their elevation, in being "a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well."

None but characters of this description merit the

suffrages of a free, enlightened public.

In hereditary governments, a people are not answerable for the character of the civil magistrate. It is not their fault, but their misfortune, when high stations are not filled with the best men. In elective republics it is otherwise. Where power emanates from the immediate act of the people, it is both their sin and their punishment, when it falls on improper and unqualified subjects.

Consonant to this remark is the following passage from a sermon, delivered nearly forty years since, on an occasion similar to the present; *(Rev. Dr. Eliot, 1765.) which I the rather beg leave to introduce, as displaying, in a lively manner, the sentiment and spirit of our fathers. "When," says the preacher, " a people immediately appoint their own rulers, they are to the last degree infatuated, if they fix on those, who are not capable of seeing with their own eyes, but are obliged to move by the direction of others, or who get into power to gratify their vanity, their luxury, or their avarice; and it requires no spirit of prophecy to foresee, that a community who are so lost to public virtue, are nigh to destruction. A people may be deceived, they may be betrayed, by men in whom they put confidence. But they deserve to be abandoned by providence, if they trust their interest with men, whom they know to be either weak or wicked."

The last thing to be noticed, as connected with national safety and happiness, is the regard paid to the obligations and institutions of religion.

It is not thought necessary to enter into a formal proof of the beneficial influence of religion upon the peace and the order, the security and the welfare of society. This has been often done in the most satisfactory manner. Let it be simply asked: If the responsibility of human conduct be denied, what remains to deter men from atrocious criminality? If the restraints which religion imposes be taken off, will not evil men wax worse and worse? Will principles, which confound the distinctions of right and wrong, virtue and vice, conduct their votaries in the paths of integrity and honour? Or will a man be more temperate, more just, more attentive to his duty, and better serve his generation, the less he believes in the moral government of Deity, and a future state of retribution? Whatever may have been advanced to the contrary, if you remove religious principle, no sufficient base will be left for the support of moral and social duty. If you take the fear of God away, and the expectation of a judge to come, you loosen those cords, you burst asunder those bands, by which men are held to be good men, good neighbors, good citizens, good subjects, and good rulers. In a word, religion is the palladium of social order and happiness; and those, who are striving to break down its altars, and to overthrow its institutions, are to be regarded as in a state of hostility to the dearest interests of man.

The love of country, the memory of our pious ancestors, the happiness of unborn million, and our own eternal salvation, all conspire to exact it of us as a duty, to cherish the principles, adhere to the institutions, cultivate the virtues, and imitate the examples of our holy religion. Whenever we shall degenerate from the piety of our forefathers to that degree, that the house of God be forsaken; the ministers of religion be cast off as a useless incumbrance; and our Sabbath's sacred to devotion, be converted into days of amusement and pleasure; the shall we have abandoned the ark of our safety; then shall we find ourselves, without chart or compass, afloat on the troubled sea of revolution, liable to be swallowed up by every swelling surge, and exposed to perish in the storm, which our own vices have contributed to raise.

Deeply impressed with the importance of religion to the happiness of a state, it greatly adds to the joy of this anniversary, and must be esteemed a token for good, that we see repeatedly placed at the head of the commonwealth, by the increasing suffrages of his fellow-citizens, a magistrate, who is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; and in whole character are united the accomplished statesman, and the devout christian. Bound by the strongest and most endearing ties to the civil and religious institutions of his country, these, we doubt not, will have his decided support. Under an administration combining dignity with mildness, energy with moderation, and rectitude of measures with a liberal regard to the sentiments and feelings of the community, we promise ourselves great quietness. It shall be our fervent prayer for his Excellency, that he may continue to "see the desire of his heart, and peace upon Israel." At some far distant period, having served his generation according to the will of God, may he quit the labours of a mortal, to receive the crown of an immortal life.

The gentleman re-elected to the second office in government, will accept our cordial congratulation. While this affords a pleasing testimony of the public approbation of his past services, it yields likewise a stimulus to further claims upon it. Convinced of His Honour's zeal and abilities. we anticipate with pleasure the fruits of their exertion for the good of the Commonwealth.

In our divided state of public opinion, it much concerns the legislative branches of government to have "understanding the times, to know what Israel ought to do." The people hope for, and permit me to say, they have a right to expect in their rulers, a firm adherence to those principles and measures, which have raised us to a state of prosperity unequalled in the history of civil society. From such principles and measures, what discerning friend of his country will wish for a departure? Rapidly advancing in the road of improvement, what may we promise ourselves from a change? In your wisdom and integrity, respected rulers, do we confide, that the powers, constitutionally vested in you, will be uniformly employed in checking a progress of innovation; in preserving the union of the states under the general government; and in maintaining the strength and proportions of that goodly edifice, which deservedly attracts the admiration of the world.

May divine wisdom guide, and divine goodness crown your deliberations with success! Under your auspices, may the principles of freedom be well understood; genuine patriotism increase ; the social and moral virtues prevail ; and the uncorrupt religion of the gospel attain an influence unknown to former time! May this age, in which you are called to act a part so conspicuous, hereafter arise and shine with bright characters of distinction! And at the day of final audit, may you receive the rewards allotted to the friends and benefactors of mankind!

Men and Brethren of this numerous assembly. We all

profess to have the same object in view, the good of our common country. Whatever want of agreement there may be among us in other respects, let us at least unite in supplicating the God of our mercies, that he will be pleased to enlighten the guides of our nation with wisdom from above; that he will lead them in the paths of understanding, and make darkness light before them; that he will direct to the adoption of wise, safe, and judicious measures; and that he will preserve from dangerous errors and mistakes.

Amidst the fluctuation of human events, one point of comfort eternally remains, that the Lord reigneth. Defeat may attend the best concerted schemes of mortals; but his council shall stand. The wrath, the follies, and even the impieties of men shall praise him. Through all obstructions, the purposes of heaven shall hold an uninterrupted course, till they issue at length in the glorious discoveries of the perfect day.

Taking the prophetic writings for our guide, we are led to expect, that great events are yet to be unfolded. In them a period is clearly foretold, when wars shall cease; war, that scourge of nations, that indelible stigma on human nature, when the blessings of equal liberty, rarely known on earth, shall become the inheritance of all men; when civil and religious institutions, no more at variance, shall combine their influence to produce the greatest good; and when christianity shall triumph over all that is corrupt and vicious in the human heart and manners.

Then shall commence the genuine age of reason, and perfectability of man; of which certain blind philosophers, in language stolen from prophetic inspiration, have spoken, but like Caiaphus, known not they were uttering a prophecy. Not, however, in the manner predicted by them; not by "throwing christianity in the background," and advancing infidelity and atheism in its place, shall this event happen; but by the universal spread of the gospel, and the prevalence of its sacred principles.

None can be ignorant of the attempts to discredit the

authority, and to abolish the influence of divine revelation. To what lengths these may yet be carried, or with what degree of success they may for a time be attended, cannot be foreseen. But, eventually, the truth as it is in Jesus shall prevail. The enlightened eye of faith, through all the surrounding darkness, descries the triumph of the cross, the bright glories of the Redeemer's reign. Of those triumphs, of these glories, our country shall one day partake. For so runs the decree of the Almighty; "I will give thee the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." And though mercenary Balaams should come from afar; though they should ascend every high place, and from every point of observation utter their blasphemies "against the Lord, and against his anointed;" yet, so far from defeating, they shall be made, contrary to their intention, to subserve "the purpose of him, who work th all things after the council of his own will."

In the mean time, let us be guarded against every insidious attempt to corrupt our principles, or misguide our practice, It concerns us to beware, that no man spoil us through philosophy and vain deceit that we forsake not the old paths, which righteous men have trodden, for the unsafe ones of later inventions ; and that we hearken not to the plausible, but ill grounded schemes of modern theorists, having for their object the demolition of all that the wisdom of ages, of all that divine wisdom has reared up ; and which, if they meet with no check, if they proceed with their refinements, will erelong refine us out of the blessings of a free people, leaving us only the shadow of liberty, and perhaps not even so much as that. Let us aim to have just views of the situation, interests, and welfare of our country, and strive to promote these important objects. Particularly, let us cultivate in our hearts, and recommend by our example to others, the social, moral, and christian duties. Laying aside all bitterness and wrath, and evil speaking, let us seek the things that make for peace. Let us conduct our elections, both as respects the general and state governments, with due caution. Aware of its importance, let us cherish an attachment to the national constitution, the cement of our union, the ground and pillar of our political hopes. Whatever be the station in society we fill, whether dignified or humble, let us discharge the duties of it with all good fidelity. Let us, in fine, "exemplify in ourselves, maintain in our families, diffuse among our acquaintance, and transmit to succeeding generations, the sentiments and manners of confederate republicans, and sincere christians."

On a due attention to these things, our national safety and glory depend. We shall stand or fall, rise to distinguished eminence, or sink to contempt and misery, by the character we establish for virtue or vice, religion or infidelity. If we know and improve the time of our visitation, then from us shall blessings flow down to posterity, and to mankind at large. Neglecting this, the loss of American liberty will furnish to future ages and generations one proof more of the truth of this moral aphorism, that "sin is the reproach and the ruin of any people." "O that we were wise, that we understood this, that we would consider our latter end! O that there were such an heart in us, that we would fear the Lord, and keep all his commandments always, that it might be well with us and our children forever!"

16. AAA16 1804 Jos. Tuckerman Artillery Sermon

SERMON,

Boston:

Printed by MANNING & LORING, No. 2, Cornhill.

1804,

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

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Reprint and digital file August 29, 2005.

JOSEPH TUCKERMAN, ( b.1778, Boston, MA- d.1840, Havana, Cuba). Education: A.B., Harvard College, 1798; D.D., Harvard, 1824. Minister, North Chelsea MA, 1801-26; minister-at-large, Boston, 1826-36.

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The following begins the original text:

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A

MATTHEW xi. 19.

THE true glory of an intelligent being consist in a resemblance of his Creator; and those principles have the highest claim to a divine origin, which are well adapted to this important purpose.

The text furnishes an instance in which our Saviour applied a received maxim, to vindicate his own and the character of his religion. His enemies perceived with jealous hatred his growing influence, and left no means of counteracting it unemployed. Because John the Baptist practiced a rigid abstinence, they said, he had a devil; and because Jesus , by his example, sanctioned the innocent pleasures of social life, and by condescension and affability endeavoured to reclaim the vicious, he was called a glutton and wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. Behind similar objections has scepticism ever entrenched itself; and the answer, which was given to the scribes and Pharisees, may with equal propriety be addressed to every unbeliever. They only can judge of truth, who are disposed to receive it; and notwithstanding the obloquy with which I am now followed, and the opposition, which the prejudiced and the vicious may ever

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make to my instructions, the children of wisdom, who are my disciples, by an illustration of my principles in their lives, shall justify them to all future generations, against the cavils and persecutions of infidelity.

The most satisfactory method of ascertaining the worth of any system, either of religion, morals, or policy, is an examination of its effects. "By their fruits ye shall know them." That the worship of gods affected by ambition, envy, jealousy and revenge, is adapted to nourish these passions in men by whom such homage is paid; that to deny the being, or to doubt the government of God, has a tendency to excite a disregard of moral obligation, and by perverting the judgment, to disorder and corrupt the appetites and passions; that the adoption of a system of ethics, which abrogates all distinction in society, annuls the validity of the marriage contract, and erases gratitude, filial piety, and that benevolence, which in any instance discriminates between kind and kindred, from the catalogue of virtues, would be subversive of all the happiness of domestic and social life; that a plan of policy, the object of which is personal aggrandizement, and which admits all the gradations of simulation and dissimulation for the attainment of its ends, will issue either in frequent and destructive civil contests, or in that national degeneracy, which will render such a people an easy prey to the first bold invader, are facts, which, if they had not been attested by the histories of all preceding times, would have received abundant confirmation in our own. The present is literally an age of experiment. But, notwithstanding the doubts and fears by which many are yet affected, concerning the interests both of the

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church and state, it may be the confidence of the enlightened and upright statesman, and of the humble and decided Christian, that wisdom will be fully justified of her children. The absurd systems of fanciful and infatuated politicians and moralists will be exploded and contemned. The government of laws will yet triumph over the despotism of the passions, and the religion of Jesus alone be acknowledged a revelation from heaven.

If Christianity were supported by no, external evidences, yet such are its tendencies, that no well ordered mind would explicitly deny the origin, which it claims, nor justify an attempt to prevent its reception by mankind. If it be a fabrication, it is such as no one but its author could have formed; and from which the world has derived far greater advantages for eighteen hundred years, than could have been supplied by the united wisdom of all, who existed before or since its promulgation. The changes, which it has produced in the laws, manners and moral sentiments of nations, give to this opinion the strongest evidence. On the present occasion, therefore, it will not be deemed irrelative, to illustrate the influence which the principles of the gospel are adapted to produce on general society, on the political state of a nation, and on the military character; thus evincing the truth and just application of the proverb, that wisdom is justified of her children.

It has been objected to the Christian morals, that they are not fitted for man, because they require such perfection as he can never attain. But if no one ever practised them in their utmost extent, yet many have acquired a portion of that spirit, which actuated the Author and Finisher of our faith.

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From an observation of such characters, to deduce the effects, which would be produced, if society were composed only of such individuals, is a method of vindicating and of recommending religion, at once, the most equitable and satisfactory.

Imagine, therefore, a community, by every member of which Christianity is sincerely professed and practised. To suppose a perfect coalition of opinions concerning the mode of the divine operations, or the forms of ecclesiastical government, would be unessential; for on these subjects the wisest and best of men have ever differed. But there are certain primary principles, which have been universally received by the Christian world, and which, if as extensively applied, will be confessedly productive of effects far the most favourable of all others to the honour and happiness of every civil and social establishment.

So powerful are religious impressions, wherever they exist, that the character of a people may be deduced with unerring certainty from that of the object of their worship. The sentiments of Deity, which are received by this community, are the most sublime and influential that can be conceived. Their ideas of a Being perfectly wise, holy, just and good, in whose administration nothing is contingent and nothing partial, though inadequate, are definite; and in their minds is no doubt, whether there be one or many gods, nor whether HE, who governs in the universe, be deserving of their love, confidence and homage. Such sentiments will naturally excite devotion, and have the most direct tendency to strengthen, to elevate and ennoble the mind; to expand and to purify the best affections of their natures. In all nations, the temples consecrated to

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their divinities have been the best efforts of architectural skill. With their ideas of the places, in which their sacrifices were offered, and where they were favoured with peculiar manifestations of the glory of their deities, they associated ideas of peculiar solemnity and magnificence; and though Christians are taught to worship the Father of Spirits in spirit and in truth, such expressions of respect are by no means unappropriate, nor will be omitted. United in this faith, they will, likewise, be united in the presentation of their devotions. They will consecrate places to the worship of God, and observe his sabbaths; they will refer in all their conduct to his presence and providence, and exercise an undoubting confidence in the rectitude and benevolence of his dispensations. These are the duties and offices of piety, which Christ has enjoined; and this the character of Him, who demands the love, trust and submission of men. To believe in such a Being and to be regardless of him, is impossible; and if the observance of such services do not give to virtue its greatest energy, it is because he, who is unaffected by them, is incapacitated either for mental or moral improvement.

The social duties, which are inculcated in the gospel, are suited, also, to the wants of those, on who in they are enforced. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, is the second of the two commandments, on which is said to hang all the law and the prophets. To be benevolent to the poor and miserable; to exercise that candour in their judgments of men, which suffereth long and is kind, which hopeth all things and endureth all things; to be inflexibly just in their intercourses, and on no occasion to violate the truth ; to be steadfast in their friendships, fervent in their gratitude, and condescending in all their

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deportment; to be firm in the love of their country, as parents, to provide for their families, to preserve domestic peace, to educate the children entrusted to their care in the principles and practice of religion, exercising a judicious discipline, and presenting examples worthy of imitation ; as children, to honour and obey their parents; as servants, to be faithful; as masters, to be benevolent and just; magistrates, to be ministers of God for good unto the people; and as subjects to render tribute to whom tribute is due, and honour to whom honour: These are requirements worthy of him, from whom they were derived, and fitted alike for every country and every age. They will not, indeed, receive the approbation of the selfish, the unjust, the resentful, the disturber of public and private tranquillity; but where is the man, by whom they have been faithfully practised, who complains of their rigour? Ask the sympathizing friend, the kind neighbour, the good citizen, the affectionate and constant husband; the obedient child, the upright and submissive dependent; whether, in imposing such commands, his Lord be austere and unaccommodating? No. From his social duties a Christian derives his social pleasures; and in his mind they become so closely connected, that their disunion would issue in the destruction of both.

The followers of Jesus are required, likewise, to attain that complete government of themselves, which involves the control of their thoughts, their words, their appetites and passions. This is the noblest independence of which man is capable. He, that hath no rule over his spirit, is like a city broken down and without walls. All things are lawful for me, said St. Paul, but I will not be brought under the power of any. How dignified and commanding is

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this sentiment, and how admirable the character, which is formed by its observance! They are taught to be humble, prudent, diligent and cheerful; to be content with such things as they have, never envying the condition of another, nor coveting his possessions. In prosperity they are to be grateful, not high-minded, but trusting in the living God, who giveth them richly all things to enjoy. In adversity they are to consider that all events are under divine direction, and to exercise patience and fortitude. Was a system of religion like this ever offered to the world? Does not even this cursory recurrence to it impress our minds with the conviction, that such wisdom will ever be justified of her children?

Public virtue is the combined result of the virtues of individuals; and the community, by each member of which these great principles of truth were practically adopted, would possess advantages, for the want of which every nation has suffered, and which by this means only can be attained..

The first effect, which we notice as inseparably connected with these principles, is a greater equalization of happiness. The same circumstances, from which we deduce that God is the Creator of man, evince also, that the distinctions between the learned and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, are of divine appointment; or if we had no other argument by which to defend the wisdom of such discriminations, an unprejudiced mind would be completely satisfied, by a consideration of the benefits of which they are productive. But though civil laws, in many instances, may defeat the projects of ambition, repress the impetuosity of angry and resentful passions, and limit the rapacity of avarice though many may

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be deterred from crimes, which are consequent on these distinctions, by a fear of the punishment, which is annexed to their commission, yet as no other than a sense of moral duty can completely subdue the force of the temptation, it is only from the prevalence of this, that we can hope for the suppression of those vices, which occasion far the greatest portion of the miseries of society. If each considered others, as, equally with himself, the children of God; if all conformed to the duty of doing to others, as they would, that others should do to them, the wife would never seek the accomplishment of their designs by intrigue and subtlety, nor the ignorant view them with jealousy and hatred; the rich would not be arrogant and imposing, nor the poor envious or unfaithful. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you. As, therefore, we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, yet each contributes its part toward the sum of happiness; so we, being many as individuals, are one in society, and while performing the services for which each is intended, may receive our full proportion of enjoyment.

It is a second effect, which would result from an universal reception of these principles, that they are the most efficient security against civil dissensions. A house divided against itself cannot stand; and a State, where disunion of opinions produces a competition of interests, by awakening suspicion and enmity among its members, will soon become the possession of the strongest, and receive its laws, not from the enlightened and virtuous, but from the ambitious, whose only glory is success, and whose sole object is fame.

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Except in arbitrary governments, the internal policy of every nation will derive its complexion from the character of the people. In a society, actuated by the laws of Christ, though in many things unessential they may differ, they will be ever ready to sacrifice individual to public good, and realize the advancement of their own, in whatever is designed to promote the interest of the whole. In such a community there will be no factions and no cabals. As they have experienced the benefits of a wise, virtuous, and equal administration, they would not elect as their chief magistrate, a man who has contemned that religion, which is the guide of their lives, and the basis of their hopes. They would not entrust the constitution of their country to men, who were hostile to its establishment, nor believe those fitted to be legislators, who were the mere adherents of a party. These are the sources, from which flow distrust in the government of a nation, and from which proceed those civil discords, which are the greatest of national calamities. The end of society is to attain the greatest happiness of all, by giving security to property, and producing a combination of the interests of every individual, in support of the whole. Where the same principles of virtue are acknowledged by all, this effect will certainly follow. The rulers being elected from among the people, there will exist no doubt concerning the qualifications, which are requisite; and as none but good laws will be enacted, complaint or opposition will be unknown.

Another consequence of the principles, we have stated, is an entire accumulation of national strength. The rights of a people will be no longer respected by others, than they are valued and defended by

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themselves. If by its united forces, a nation cannot maintain its independence, it may, at least, retard destruction; and if it must fall, will fall with glory. In the view of a Christian, patriotism has a signification far more extended, than is comprehended either by modern moral theorists, or speculating politicians. It is a sentiment pure and sublime; and which, while it impels to the resistance of every foreign aggression, regards equally the rights of others. That love of country, which is felt by him, who estimates, above all price the privilege of worshipping his God agreeably to the dictates of his own conscience, and is attached to the altar, from which his devotions are offered; who duly respects the administration, in which, by the right of suffrage, he sustains a part, and who regards his family, his neighbourhood, and all, who inhabit the same soil, with an affection at once pure and ardent, when called into exercise, will ever produce effects worthy of the object, to which it is directed. Men united by such a bond, will command the deference of nations; and without it, arms, councils, numbers and wealth would be ineffectual. If these alone had been sufficient for national strength, Rome would have become a province of Carthage; and America, at this day, would have received her laws from Britain. "It was peculiar to the Romans, that the love, which they expressed for their country, was blended with some particular sentiment of devotion. That mighty city, founded in the most auspicious period, the great Romulus at once their monarch and their God; the capitol esteemed as eternal as the city, and the city reputed as eternal as its founder, had anciently made on their minds the deepest impressions."* That Christianity

*Montesquieu on the Grandeur and Declension of the Romans, chap. 10.

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is yet infinitely better adapted to produce such an union, will not be questioned by those, who, at any season, have experienced its efficacy.

The last blessing to society, resulting from a conformity to the requirements of the gospel, would be the unceasing favour of God. Jesus Christ taught his followers, that the divine providence extends to every particle of matter, and every operation of the mind. He, therefore, who observes even the falling of a sparrow to the ground, will never leave a nation till it abandons him. How often do the best formed projects of man disappoint his hopes at the very moment of expected success? How frequently, in tracing the chain of causes, which have issued in events the most important in the history of man, do we find them suspended on circumstances too minute to have claimed attention, at the time when they transpired? These have been considered, by the best moral philosophers,* as incontestible evidences of a divine influence. To acquire the approbation of a Being, infinitely powerful, wise and good, and whose dominion is so extensive, certainly comprises all which is essential to private or national happiness. In vain will a legislature assemble, if God do not confer wisdom. In vain will armies receive the best instructions, or be commanded by the most skilful generals, if He bless not their enterprizes. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposal of it is the Lord’s. The savage tyrants, the mighty conquerors of the world, were scourges in his hand for the punishment of the disobedient. As there are points of vice, beyond which individuals cannot proceed, without be-

*See Hartley on Man, vol. ii. p. 44.—See also Search’s Light of Nature pursued, vol. ii. part iii. chap. Providence.

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coming the miserable victims of their excesses, so when nations arrive at certain stages of degeneracy, they are forsaken by Him, whom they have neglected. In Judea, fruitful seasons, internal peace and victories abroad, were the sure consequences of public virtue; and every people, by whom the character of God is reverenced, and his will observed, may reasonably calculate on the same blessings.

These effects of Christianity, on the social system, are adapted to recommend it to every condition of men. Happy indeed, is that community, whose God is the Lord! Happy the people whose confidence is in Him; "for thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all. In thine hand is power and might, and in thine hand it is to make great, and, to give strength unto all"*

The, laws of nations are the gradual results of national wants. As, therefore, new circumstances are continually transpiring, or as familiar, events frequently occur with such various modifications as çould not possibly be anticipated, a perfect system of human legislation never existed, nor can be expected. The circumstances, which, principally occasion the inefficiency of the best human laws, are, that they extend only to the regulation of conduct; consequently, numerous crimes may be perpetrated, of which they take no cognizance ; and as they are instituted by men, fallible as those for whom they are designed, the motives to obedience may be easily

* I Chronicles, xxix. 11, 12

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resisted. Hence almost all legislators, to give effect to their laws, have attached to them a pretended divine sanction;* designing, by establishing the belief, that not only actions, but the most secret motives were known, to acquire more complete dominion over the hopes and fears of men. That the religion of Jesus furnishes the best remedy for these defects, is not only asserted by its public ministers and by all the pious, but is confessed by every conscientious politician. So general, indeed, is this conviction, that every aspiring demagogue declaims loudly on its utility, that he may conceal, even from his accomplices, a suspicion of his nefarious designs.

By producing such effects on the morals of society, and by giving to laws that force, which can never be derived from the power of man, Christianity would also form rulers, under whose administration, States would attain their greatest prosperity. No requirement of the gospel is addressed immediately to magistrates; but in the explanation, which is given of the origin and design of civil authorities, we are taught, in the most impressive manner, what they would be, if they were guided by the principles of this religion. As servants of God, they would venerate his character; and as they are expressly

*To inspire the Cretans with a mail profound veneration for his ordinances, Minos often retired to a cave, where he boasted of having familiar conversation with Jupiter. Mineves, likewise, one of the most ancient and renowned legislators of Egypt, attributed his to Hermes or Mercury. Lycurgus availed himself of the suffrage of Apollo, before he began the reformation in Sparta. Zalucus, legislator of the Locrians, said, that he was inspired by Minerva. Zatheaustes, among the Arimaspes, declared that he had his ordinances from a genius adored by the people. Zamolxis boasted to the Getes, his intimate communications with the goddess Vesta ; and Numa amused the Romans with his conversations with the nymph Egeria.

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appointed for the good of the people, they would defend the constitution against every unjust infringement, and execute the laws with undeviating impartiality.

In magistrates, piety is indispensable. The sovereign of a people is the representative of God. If, therefore, he have no reverence for the supreme Governor of heaven and earth, what basis can he furnish for confidence or respect? If piety, without knowledge, induces bigotry and fanaticism, knowledge, without piety, will as certainly be fatal both to personal and social virtue. We know, indeed, that unprincipled magistrates have been appointed by the Most High; but it was for the punishment of the nations. The election of such rulers marks a stage of national debasement, which evinces a necessity of the severest corrective. Power, which, from the weakness of human nature, is at all times dangerous, furnishes, to a man destitute of religious principles, the means of effectuating every base design. History does not record the name of a monarch of this character, who was not a despot. If the love and fear of God, the observance of his institutions and moral requirements, and an habitual recollection of final accountability be requisite to fortify the mind against the influence of temptations, in the common transactions of life, how much more when the interests of millions are committed to the care of an individual, who is either amenable to no earthly authority, or only to judges, who are the creatures of his will? A pious magistrate will execute the functions of his office under a deep conviction of his responsibility at a tribunal, from which there is no appeal. He will guard the rights of conscience against

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every encroachment; but under this pretence, he would not court the impious libertine, nor countenance his blasphemies. Liberty of conscience is the natural right of every one; but this includes no right to destroy those sacred institutions, on which depend the order and happiness of society. And the only method of securing these essential blessings of a free State is the election of rulers, who, to their love of country, unite devotion to Him, who governs in the nations, and reverence of that dispensation of his will, which He has made to mankind.

In the histories of all countries, their military character claims a conspicuous place. A nation at peace with all others, like an individual in private life, furnishes but few events, which will interest the attention of posterity. Hence the prevalence of the erroneous opinion, that the history of man will supply only a detail of the ravages of ambition and avarice. It is true, and to the disgrace of man, that millions of our kind have fallen in wars the most unjust, oppressive and cruel; and during the present state of the world, as the same passions, by which these have been occasioned, will retain ascendency, it becomes the duty of every nation to be in a constant condition for resistance. That war, under such circumstances, is justifiable, has been admitted by all the best moralists. That the principles of the gospel are better adapted than all others, to give to the military character its highest dignity and worth, by an illustration of the effects, which they have produced, will be incontestably demonstrated.

Notwithstanding the frequency of wars since the promulgation of the gospel, and the unjust motives

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on which they have been prosecuted, their legitimate causes are certainly better ascertained, than they were at any former period; and among Christian nations, these causes have acquired great influence. The military character of the Greeks and Romans, and especially of the latter, though in many respects deserving of honour and imitation, was generally distinguished by an insatiable thirst of conquest and dominion, for the acquisition of national glory and wealth. It was not, therefore, because they received injuries from the neighbouring States, nor because those, against whom their arms were directed, had assumed an imposing or threatening posture, that they determined their subjugation. These were, sometimes, the pretences; but the real motives, which were then, perhaps, concealed from common view, are now discernible by the plainest understanding. Rome aspired to the magistracy of the world; and the power of attaining it was deemed amply sufficient to justify the attempt. The rights of nations were too inaccurately defined to be well understood, or greatly respected; and it was the only alternative of those whose strength was not adequate to repress designs of invasion, either to sell all which they possessed at the price of the blood of their enemies, or to retain their lives and property by an unresisting submission. But where Christianity has shed its benign influence, and connected men each to each, and all to God, the only circumstance, which will render war justifiable, is a national injury, which cannot otherwise be repaired; or which, if suffered with impunity, will invite those aggressions, by which the interests of the community

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will be endangered. Their opposition, therefore, is exclusively defensive; and is founded on the same principles, which make self-prefervation the first law of nature. A Christian neither provokes his neighbour by insult or injustice, nor will he resist an infringement of his rights with a malicious and revengeful spirit; but as no individual has a natural right to deprive another of his property, his freedom or his life, while he is pursuing his employments by the rules of justice, a similar intention cannot be vindicated in the intercourses of nations. A Christian community will ever be prepared for war, because taught by the experience of all ages, that a nation unguarded soon becomes the spoil of the unprincipled and the daring. But they will engage in it only as a last resort; and then, merely to retain that, which they have received by inheritance, or is the fruit of their labours.

By the extension of the gospel, the consequences of war have, also, been far less terrible, than during the ages by which it was preceded. Where contests have been excited by the jealousy of religious sectaries, they have, indeed, equalled the barbarity of the most despotic and cruel tyrants; but this constitutes no objection either against the truth or excellence of Christianity. To the influence of the gospel we are indebted for those laws, which have ever appointed limits to stratagems, and which have made it a duty of a conqueror, which cannot be violated without shame and disgrace, to admit a triumph to mercy at the very moment, which crowns his efforts with success. A prince, who should now reduce a vanquished nation to slavery, who should

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chain its governors to his triumphal car, raze their cities to the ground, and wantonly riot in the massacre of their inhabitants, would descend to posterity with every epithet attached to his name, which the disgust and indignation of the historian could combine. "Let us set before our eyes, on one hand, the continual massacres of the Greeks and Romans; and on the other, the destruction of people and cities by those famous conquerors Timur Beg and Jenghiz Khan, who ravaged Asia; and we shall see that we owe to Christianity, in government a certain political law, and in war a law of nations, benefits which human nature can never sufficiently acknowledge.*

Although there may not, therefore, be equal honours attached to the profession of arms as in ancient times, the character of the Christian soldier is far more deserving of praise, than those of the mighty ravagers of the world. He is entrusted with the defence of the liberties and happiness of his country, but his sword is unstained by one drop of blood shied in unjust resistance. In the gospel, life is compared to a warfare; and every passion, propensity and habit, inconsistent with the divine law, is an enemy with whom man is to contend. To be a successful combatant, he must be vigilant, courageous and persevering; he must constantly retain in view the end to which his efforts are to be directed, and exercise that discipline over himself, by which his strength and resolution will be continually increased. These are

*Spirit of Laws. B. 24. chap. 3. It is owing to this law of nations, that among us victory leaves these great advantages to the conquered, life, liberty, laws, wealth, and always religion, when the conqueror is not blind to his own interests Ibid.

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the characteristics of a Christian soldier; and if armies were composed only of such members, they would be invincible.

Impressed with these sentiments, Gentlemen of the Ancient and Honorable Company of Artillery, we congratulate you on the return of this anniversary.* While our minds are pained by reflecting on the desolations, which war has made among our species, and while we contrast these calamities with the effects, which would result from an universal reception of the principles of our holy religion, to behold a band of soldiers annually renewing their professions of dependence on Him, who governs in the universe, and their resolutions to conform to his requirements, is a spectacle, which excites emotions of the highest admiration and pleasure. By those, who rightly estimate its importance, religion is acknowledged infinitely the most valuable both of private and of national blessings; and in defending it against the attempts of those, who, in depriving us of it, would destroy at once our happiness in this, and our hopes in the future world, the Christian soldier will be justified in the sight of God and man for reasons above our comprehensions, yet infinitely wise and good, the Almighty Disposer of events may, for a season, permit the wicked to triumph; but though they spread themselves as a green bay tree, and invite the nations to sport and to slumber beneath their shade, they will soon pass away, and their places will not be found. The kingdom of Christ will be extended, and wisdom be justified of her children.

*The Company was first incorporated in the year 1637.

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As a seminary of military discipline, your institution is honorable to its founder and members, and highly deserving of public favor and patronage. He only can command with dignity, who has learned, in the school of submission, the just uses of authority. May you long continue to enjoy those distinctions by which you have been honoured; and if called to the field, in defence of that government by which your privileges are maintained, and that religion in which we all repose our faith and confidence, may your efforts be as successful, as your cause will be glorious! While you are actuated by such principles, and impelled to such designs, our country will never fear the want of accomplished and efficient commanders. "I envy the good fortune of the Athenians," said Philip of Macedon. "They find ten men every year able to command their armies, while I could never find any one but Parmenio to head mine."

But, Gentlemen, though we rejoice in the flourishing state of your institution, you will join with us in anticipating that happy period, when discord shall cease to the ends of the earth, and men shall learn war no more. However distant it may be, the day will certainly arrive, when the wicked shall cease from troubling, and the weary be forever at rest. They shall no more be alarmed by dangers, nor distressed by the sight of garments rolled in blood. While, therefore, you are emulous of honours, which are evanescent, let your ardour be excited for the acquisition of those, which will never tarnish, and of which the possessor will never be deprived. Fight

* Plutarch.

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the good fight of faith. Be sober; be vigilant; and ever retaining in view that incorruptible crown, which is assured to the conqueror of himself, persevere to the end, untired by labour, undiscouraged by difficulties, and unintimidated by the number or magnitude of temptations. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who ruleth his spirit than he who taketh a city; for to him who overcometh, says our blessed Lord, will I give to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

AMEN.

A

S E R M O N

CALEB STRONG, ESQ.

ON THE

ANNIVERSARY ELECTION,

MAY 29, 1805

BY JOHN ALLYN, S.T.D.

[Harvard, 1786}

CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER OF DUXBOROUGH

BOSTON:

PRINTED FOR YOUNG & MINNS,

PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 1805

In Senate, May 29, 1805.

Ordered, That the hon. Thomas Hale, William Brown, and John Phillips, (Essex) Esqrs. be a committee to wait on the Rev. John Allyn, and in the name of the Senate to thank him for the Sermon he this day delivered before His Excellency the Governor, His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Council and the Two Branches of the Legislature, and request a copy thereof for the press.

A true Copy from the Journals,

Attest. WENDELL DAVIS, Clerk of Sen.

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AN

ELECTION SERMON

ROM. X. 1 & IX 1, 2, 3.

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to god for israel is, that they might be saved. i say the truth in christ, i lie not, my conscience also bearing me winess in the holy ghost, that i have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ, for my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh.

The most eminent personages of sacred history have expressed a peculiar attachment to the welfare of their own nation. That divinely enlightened lawgiver, Moses, though nursed at the court of Pharaoh, and having a prospect of being advanced to the head of Egypt, yet, preferred affliction with his own people, the people of God, to the crown and treasures of Egypt. He chose to wander with his countrymen in a desert, where sustenance could not be had without a miracle, rather than to feast with a foreign monarch. The first impulse of resentment which agitated his breast was toward an Egyptian, who did wrong to one of his brethren, oppressing him with a burthen. When his people had "sinned a great sin," in making the golden calf, whereby their title to the promised blessings of Canaan was forfeited, Moses intercedes, "if thou wilt not forgive their sin, blot me I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written." ( Exod. xxxii 32. ) He chose death rather than to see the miseries of his people, or would willingly submit to it, if their pardon could be purchased by his sacrifice. This natural affection to his own race, invigorated by religious faith, afterward unfolded itself in the most patient and laborious services of patriotism.

The great Author and Finisher of the christian faith, in this respect, was like unto Moses. While he exercised the most self-denying and disinterested benevolence, productive of the most substantial blessings to mankind, his personal ministry was restricted to the Jews. Jesus the true light came to his own; ( St. John’s Gospel i. 11. ) he did this from affection as well as by divine appointment. Being partaker of flesh and blood, he took not on him angels but men, and the seed of Abraham in particular. ( Heb. ii. 14, 16 ). Anticipating the unexampled tribulation, which awaited the unbelief and sins of his countrymen, he uttered that pathetic apostrophe, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem---how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. xxii. 37.). Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God, ( Col. i. 15.) and an exemplar spotless and undeviating, manifested the whole series of limited affections. He cherished the ordinary sensibilities of domestic life, the more generous emotions of private friendship, and to these, added the display of the most fervent love to his country, with tokens of unparalleled grace and compassion towards mankind.

After the evidence of such a witness, it is not necessary to vindicate any sentiment by the subordinate authority of prophets and apostles. Indulge me, however, in two instances relating to the present subject.

The prophet Jeremiah, when Israel was carried away captive, and Jerusalem became desolate, sat weeping, and bewailed with this lamentation: "How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is she become as a widow ! she that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary !" (Lam. Jer. i.1). " O that mine head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people !"( Jer. ix. 1).

The pathos of the prophet’s lamentation, on account of judgements already executed, is equalled only by the ardent language of the apostle in the text, in which he depreciates impending calamities. "My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, For my Brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Oppressed with the presentment of that unparalleled tribulation, which awaited his countrymen, his bowels yearned with compassion, and his most affectionate prayers ascended to God in behalf of his kinsmen and brethren according to the flesh. ( Footnote: I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ.---This passage has been variously interpreted. By some the most literal construction is preferred, and the writer is understood to say, that he was willing even to postpone his own salvation, if it could be the means of saving his countrymen, by atoning for their sins. By others, he is supposed to describe his own former character. (I did wish myself accursed) the recollection of which made him more solicitous for the conversion and safety of his kinsmen, as it created a more lively feeling of their error and danger.---Another interpretation may be grounded on the ambiguity of the original term rendered accursed, which may properly be used to express an honorable oblation. The meaning then is, that the apostle wished to have been deputed from Christ an apostle to the Jews, rather than to the Gentiles. From patriotic feelings, he would prefer to exercise the construction be adopted, the idea of love to country in the doubtful sentence under consideration concurs with the whole passage vigorously to express the sentiment of patriotism.)

But why such a limitation of benevolence? Why such deep regret on account of the destruction which impended the Jews, when the spirit of prophecy might have taught the apostle that like miseries awaited the crimes of other nations? Why not from the prime minister of the gospel of peace on earth expressions of more extended sympathy? Why not an imitation of the Father’s love, who is no respecter of persons, and whose blessings flow, at times appointed, on Jews and Gentiles?

It is replied, that as "man was made for his species by the christian duties of universal charity, so he was made for his country by the obligations of the social compact."( Mr. J. Q. Adams’ Ann. Ora. Plymouth.)

Patriotism is no more incompatible with general benevolence, than the more partial affections of domestic life are without patriotism. General benevolence implies particular; it includes the limited affections; it is a seminal principle in the heart, producing, in just measure and at proper seasons, the fruits of beneficence to our family, friends, fellow-citizens and fellow-men. While it propels to every useful exertion as opportunity is presented, conscious of imbecility and obedient to the emotions of nature, its beneficent hand is most frequently opened to comfort supply the household. Indeed, as the domestic affections may be cherished and expressed, without any infraction of the maxims of justice and mercy to our neighbors, or encroachment upon the rights of the commonwealth, so these rights may be respected and the duties of patriotism performed, without any infringement on the obligations of humanity. ---It is then no proof that the apostle Paul was destitute of general benevolence that he had an ardent love to Israel, his brethren and kindred according to the flesh.

While the patriotism of St. Paul operated according to the dictates of nature and the necessities of man in a state of society, it received an accession of strength from his reflections on the invaluable privileges which had been long participated by the chosen people of God. He seems to assign a reason for his love to Israel in the words subjoined in the text: "I wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren---to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants and the giving of the law, the service of God and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came." Why this particular enumeration of national honours and privileges, unless because a grateful participation in them was intimately associated with a deep solicitude for the future welfare of his fellow participants? He is himself an illustration of his own description of charity, when he says, "if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it; and if one suffer, the rest suffer also"

Were it necessary, in explaining and vindication the patriotic character of St. Paul, it might be further urged that his love to his brethren was exercised in due subordination to the will of God, and the highest demands of philanthropy. Obedient to the voice from heaven he resisted his tender desires after his brethren, and pursued his mission to the Gentiles. He preferred compliance with the invitations of general benevolence and the will of God to the gratification of his limited affections. Though willing to be accursed from Christ for his brethren, without hesitancy, he acquiesces in the designation, "I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.(Acts xxii. 21.).

When we consider the order and progress of our social feelings, and weigh the authority of so great an exemplar as the apostle Paul, can there be any room doubtingly to inquire whether patriotism be compatible with the spirit of christianity? And why does a celebrated modern writer (Soame Jenyns.) consider patriotism as excluded from the christian system of moral duties? If indeed this term, when strictly defined, import a "Disposition to oppress all other countries to advance the imaginary prosperity of our own; and to copy the mean partiality of a parish officer, who thinks injustice and cruelty are meritorious, when they promote the interest of his own inconsiderable village; if patriotism has ever been the favorite virtue with mankind, because it conceals self-love under the mask of public spirit," christianity, indeed, condemns it. Such patriotism does not appoach, in degree or extent, the benevolence of the religion of Christ. But why degrade the term by such an exposition? Have there been no examples of a generous and laudable love of country? Will not fact justify the assertion, that those who are affectionate in limited circles, are seldom deficient in philanthropy ?

The kindest husband is probably the most helpful neighbor; this neighbor the most peaceable citizen; this citizen the most effective soldier; and such a soldier, educated in the different grades of social life will most readily weep over the ruins of war, cordially bewail the calamities of mankind, and concientiously respect the obligations of humanity. It is, therefore, no proof that St. Paul was, or that any other person is destitute of general benevolence, that they manifest a kind affection towards brethren and kindred, according to the flesh.

But since the name patriot has been often usurped by wicked men, and historians have sometimes sanctioned the usurpation, and the nations aggrandized have acquiesced in the bestowment of unmerited honors upon unprincipled generals and statesmen; it is proper to discriminate more minutely on this subject, and thus to remove from the idea of patriotism, any disgrace into which it may have fallen by its alliance either with the weaknesses or vices of the human character.

No pretences of patriotism extenuate, much less justify the least violation of the maxims of justice and humanity. That greatness, which is invariably attached to vital benevolence, spurns at that policy, which is merciless and dishonest. This benevolence, whether exercised towards family, fellow-citizens, or mankind, renounces every advantage, which cannot be secured without encroaching on the rights, or disturbing the happiness of individuals. It is indeed the greatest absurdity to attempt to build up any limited interest, by means which, if universally adopted, would prove subversive of all society.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that all illiberal partialities towards our own country, and unfounded antipathies towards other countries, are excluded from the idea of christian patriotism. Neither is there any thing commendable in the puerile attachment of some to their native soil and climate; though innocent, it ranks no higher than a fondness for one’s nurse.

We may, however, view these natural feelings with a favorable eye, when they appear to be associated with moral feelings, and to limit and to strengthen them.

But severe censure is the just demerit of those hypocritical pretences to patriotism, which are designed for the concealment of personal ambition. Every age and country produces political sycophants, who flatter, that they may rule or plunder their fellow-creatures. The numerous instances of this deception should make us slow in giving credit to the appearances of patriotism. The popular opinion is frequently ungrounded. To-day we hear Hosanna to the Son of David; tomorrow, Crucify, crucify him. Many excellent men sleep in the grave of obscurity, and others have a name to live, who deserve oblivion. Discrimination dictates an eulogy upon the poor man, whose wisdom saved the city, but who was never after remembered, (Eccl. Ix.15.) and assigns him a much more conspicuous niche in the temple of fame, than more celebrated characters, who have the credit of loving the nation and building a synagogue. It is but just to distinguish the unalloyed gold of patriotism from deceitful imitations, and the meteors of a moment from the stars of the first, second and third magnitude, which shine through successive generations.

Excluding then from the idea of patriotism whatever is unjust, frivolous, selfish or hypocritical, it is then only commended, when defined to express an honest solicitude for the welfare of the community to which we belong, and a glowing joy at the gains and improvement of our kindred according to the flesh; a deep and anxious anticipation of our country’s prosperity:--Or in fewer words, patriotism is to be commended when the profession is sincere, the means just, and the objects important.

The favorable hearing of this intelligent audience is solicited, while the speaker dispatches the practical part of his subject, and applies it to the occasion in our view; to the characters here assembled, and the times in which we live.

The most arduous duty of patriotism is to die in its cause, when required. Many names in Greek and Roman history, as also in the history of other nations, have been transmitted with veneration, for this reason, that they counted not their own lives dear to them, if they might but work some great deliverance to their country. Indeed, a greater oblation than that of life cannot be made for the common safety. But the call to embrace certain death is made but seldom, and but to few individuals of any nation. And if called, many worthy citizens might shrink from so expensive an offering for the public good. The spirit might be willing, but the flesh might be weak. With more frequency, we are called to hazard our lives; and when the justice of our country’s cause is clearly established in the mind, and the obtrusions upon our personal safety and possessions are violent and continued, whoever can ardently pray for his brethren and kindred according to the flesh will seek no dispensation from the ordinary casualties of war; but cheerfully obey a summons to the field. The state of peace, in which we live at present, renders any persuasives on this head unseasonable. By favor of Divine Providence, we are not required at present to decide on such trying demands of patriotism. More pleasant themes invite attention. The ordinary course of things in our times and country affords many opportunities of rendering patriotic services, and every one may daily find some work of love to his brethren. Besides what may be extracted in the defence of our country aganisnt a foreign enemy, there are a multitude of other expressions of patriotism important in their nature, practicable by all, and especially by such, as occupy stations of influence and authority.

It is consoling to reflect that every individual, in whatever station, may reap the honour of patriotism and enjoy the complacency which springs from useful actions, by cherishing in himself and others benevolent opinions and feelings, by setting an example of ready obedience to the laws, by giving support to institutions of public utility, by aiding in the establishment of such new regulations as the common good requires, by occasional acts of charity, and above all, by exhibiting an undefiled pattern of christian virtue and godliness.

But perhaps these objects seem distant and general, and the effects produced by individual exertion almost imperceptible. We may, however, find a new spring of animation and diligence in considering how much good may be done to our country by only pursuing with zeal and fidelity the business of our respective vocations . It falls but to a few to die for the nation, and an opportunity may seldom be afforded of contributing to the erection of some great edifice; yet every one, in all times, by well discharging the duties of his sphere and station, may build up the interests and increase the happiness of his country.

The social body is composed of various members, mutually connected and dependent. Though some deemed less honourable, they may not be less necessary than others. As the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot of the human body, cannot say one to the other, I have no need of you, but all in their respective places have indispensable uses; so, in the commonwealth, each citizen has some gift or function, by which he may become a contributor to the support and pleasure of the whole body. In every society there is much mutual dependence. "The king himself is served by the field." [ Ecclesiastes v.9] All the various classes of men derive subsistence from each others’ power or favor. The most essential labours are those of the field. The useful fabrications of the artist are either useful or convenient. The rich would be less happy without the poor to administer to their leisure and ease; and the poor, in turn, are profited by the stewardship of the rich, whose enterprise, providence and economy enable them to reward their labor, and relieve that indigence, which springs from indolence, wastefulness, and vice, or from sickness and misfortune. The young sustain an important relation to the aged, whose infirmities and sorrows it is their province to bear and mitigate, as well as perform the manual service, and endured the hardships of life; and the young may reap a full reward from the councel of ancient men, matured by experience and rendered impressive by grey hairs. We need not therefore ever despond with the idea that we are unable to serve the community; for keeping in the line, that nature and providence have marked out for us, we may effect a multitude of purposes useful to society. By assiduity in our professional labours, without any uncommon exertions and saxcrifices, we may reap the praise of serving our country and generation.

But the subject of patriotic duties more properly embraces the consideration of certain weighty interests of society, in the advancement of which it is necessary we should all unite, be our particular vocations what they may. There are some burdens, which may be lifted by individual strength; others require the united force of the whole community to raise and support them. The opinions of all parties must be embraced, when it is said, that patriotism requires the watchful preservation of our constitution and liberties—the cultivation of agricultural arts—the diffusion of knowledge—and, above all, the promotion of a religious spirit, fruitful of good works.

I. The first duty of patriotism (especially in our country) is to preserve our constitution and liberties. Mankind have entertained different ideas on the subject of civil institutions, and have adopted different forms, "according to the different habits, genius and circumstances of the people." With us there ought to be but one opinion; and, as the result of this opinion, the most decided support given to our republican institutions, as best adapted to promote the happiness of all ranks in society. Some parts of the superstructure may with propriety admit of occasional alterations; but the elective base, and those constitutional pillars of freedom, upon which we are compacted together, require vigilant protection. There is danger of innovation without improvement, of annihilating one point after another, to facilitate the designs of party, and serve the purposes of personal ambition.

Our fathers, in the most serious exercise of their understandings, and influenced by the most disinterested motives, adopted and established those civil constitutions, by which we have been protected, and to which we still look for protection. We have reason of full confidence both in their judgement and patriotism, from the experience of safety and prosperity. The lover of his country will watch against every encroachment on established rights and liberties, and especially such as have for their object the perpetuation of civil power in the hands of a few. But what are the means to this end? To what expedients must we have recourse in securing our present privileges? No mean, no expedient is of more certain operation than the appointment of wise and good men to manage our common interests. Let all classes of citizens unite in this point, viz. To place honest and able men in their public councils. Can we be so infatuated as to think our constitutions and liberties ever safe, when we entrust civil power to men whom we discredit in private transactions? (Bold italics added, Ed.) The governing part of a nation ought to be men of unimpeachable justice, prudence, temperance, and exemplary goodness. For if men have lost the moral government of themselves, how shall they direct the affairs of the public with reason and equality, and how can we suppose they will respect the rights of the whole people, who do not respect individual rights? (Bold italics added, Ed.)

It may be added, that the corrupt example of men in station is peculiarly contagious and destructive. The pagans imitated the supposed practices of their gods. Gods on earth equally propagate their vices. And as it was formerly in vain for the philosophers to arraign the vices of heathen deities, so now it is equally fruitless for the preacher and moralist to inveigh against vices made reputable by official eminence. There is special reason to fear that our rights and liberties will be impaired and lost, and our national manners corrupted by unprincipled and immoral rulers.

So much evil is to be apprehended from this source, that it may be established as a prime duty of patriotism in every citizen to exercise his elective power with caution, and entrust the administration of public affairs only to men of sound minds and virtuous habits. Without this preventive, that treasure of independence and freedom, which our country so long and so nobly bled to acquire, will be dissipated and irrecoverably lost. (Italics added, Ed.) We often look to political expediency for the preservation of political blessings; but they will all prove deficient, if the general course of our public affairs be not directed by wisdom and uprightness. To this point then, let all collect, and commit the custody of our political tables to men of unostentatious wisdom and experienced fidelity. Thus shall we preserve and perpetuate our constitutions and liberties.

II. But the attainment of this object is intimately connected with another branch of patriotic duty, the general diffusion of knowledge. We have a text on this subject, the writer of which, and the chapter containing it must be recollected by every individual in this audience. "In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion be enlightened." ( President Washington’s Address on retiring from public life.)

Whoever loves liberty and the government of laws will cultivate seminaries of learning.

( This is the end of Section One. We intend to make available Section Two when possible. Ed.)

A MISSIONARY SERMON,

PREACHED BEFORE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN PHILIDELPHIA,

MAY 23d, 1805.

BY EDWARD D. GRIFFIN, D. D.

PRINTED BY JOHN DENIO.

1808.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file December 27, 2002.

Edward Dorr Griffin, (b. 1770, d. 1837) graduated Yale in 1790. At this writing, he was a pastor in Newark, later a professor at Andover seminary. He served as President, Williams College, 1821-36 and was instrumental in its preservation as a viable school.

Page numbers in the original appear in brackets as shown: [ 2 ]

The following begins the original text:

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IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

May 24th, 1805.

A .true Copy, NATHANIEL IRWIN, clk.

BY THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF MISSIONS;

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A

SERMON,

COL. 1. 16.

WHILE worldly minds are confined to a few surrounding objects, unconscious of the great scenes above, them, like men in a cavern who have never beheld the glories of nature; the devout christian delights to raise his eyes, and contemplate the perfections of his Creator. He feels a noble and in extinguishable ardour to ascend in meditation to ever-lasting things, to lose sight of earth in his sublime excursions, to tread the pavements of heaven, to take a near view of God, and from that exalted summit to look abroad among his Father’s works. The point to which his thoughts aspire, the highest that a created mind can reach, is that from whence he may view the amazing purposes, which God is

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carrying to execution, and by this mean discover the moral character of their Author, and the tendency of all things. On this eminence stood the great apostle of the Gentiles, when he pronounced the words of our text. Let us accompany him to that commanding height; and while we view, may the divine spirit clear the film from our mental fight, that we way gaze with amazement, adoration, and love.

Placing ourselves at the beginning of time, and looking back into eternity, we are anxious to know what induced the ever blessed God to exercise his power in the production of creatures, and what valuable object be proposed to accomplish by all his works. In order to a right solution of these points, we must conceive an eternal propensity in the fountain of love to overflow, and fill with happiness numberless vessels fitted to receive it. We must conceive an eternal propensity in God to manifest the richness and perfection of his nature to creatures; not for the sake of ostentatious display, but to enrich the universe with the knowledge of his glory, and to lay a foundation for general confidence and delight in him. A state of unproductive repose was not a condition becoming himself. As the sun exists in his proper and most glorious state when shedding his beams to bless the dependent planets, so God is conceived to exist in his proper and most glorious state when he is, benevolently exercising his perfections on the created system, and, so to speak, hangs them around him like an eternal robe of light, to awaken the wonder and joy of creatures. The stupendous object which he contemplated was an immense and beautifully

adjusted kingdom of holy and happy creatures, in which he should be acknowledged as the glorious head, and they should take their proper place at his feet; in which he should be felt as the center of attraction to draw all its parts into union with himself, and as a sun to shed blessed influence upon the whole; and over which, when its prosperity should be completed, he might rejoice with joy, and rest in his love.*

This was the glorious end which his goodness eternally proposed: and now we are to view the means which he ordained for its accomplishment. The principal mean adopted was the appointment of his Son to act as his vicegerent in the creation and government of all worlds, to assume a created nature into personal union with himself, and thus to fill up the infinite chasm between God and his creation, and be the grand connecting bond between finite and infinite natures. As head of his Father’s kingdom, to which he was to be closely united by his assumed nature, and as the medium of all intercourse between that kingdom and his Father, he was to form the most perfect union between God and his creatures. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; I in them, and thou in me, That They may be made perfect in one. † Put forward into a public station as his Father’s organ and image, to be seen by every eye, he was to bring out the invisible God to view from the hidden recesses of his nature,—to bring down the incomprehensible God within the reach of finite apprehensions, and to serve as a

mild glass through which creatures might view the splendours of divine perfection without dazzling and paining theirsfight.

This is the Christ, the anointed agent, of whom our text declares, By him were all things created that are in heaven; and that are in earth; visible and invisib1e, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and FOR HIM. This is not said of him simply as God, but as THE CHRIST, who fills a middle place between God and man, and partakes of both natures. The character intended is pointedly marked in the context, every part of which applies only to Christ. The apostle is treating of the Messiah, and describes him as the image of the invisible God, The first born of every creature, the head of the body, the church, the first born from the dead, in whom we have redemption through his blood; all of which can be understood of him only as Mediator, and not merely as second person of the Trinity. Can we then acquit the apostle of the charge of introducing a strange confusion of characters, unless our text be allowed to assert that all things were created by the Messiah, and for the Messiah?

The truth I take to be this: All the works which God designed to produce throughout the universe, he delegated Christ to accomplish. All the displays of God which were ever intended to be made to creatures, Christ was appointed to make. The vast plan which involved the whole creation, and all the measures of divine government, was one plan; the execution

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of which, in all its parts, was committed to Christ. It is elsewhere said that all things were made for God, that is, for the display of his perfections, and for the promotion of that general interest of his kingdom which he benevolently considers his own. In perfect consistency with: this, all things are here said to be made for Christ, that is, for the illustration of his mediatorial glory (not indeed as the ultimate and chief end, but rather as the principal mode in which the glory of God was to be displayed) and to subserve the vast plan which he was appointed to execute, in the issue of which God will be all in all. It would seem then that it was in the character of Messiah that he created the angels, the sun, moon,: and stars, and all other things visible and invisible; and that he created them all for himself as Mediator ;— in a word, that he created all worlds to subserve his mediatorial plan, the principal scene of which, it is well known, was laid upon this earth. The fame apostle in another place declares that God created all things by Jesus Christ—and why ?—To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known BY THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God.* In one of his addresses to the christian church the apostle expressly asserts, all things are for your sakes.†

Does it seem incredible that all other worlds should be created to promote the purposes of grace upon. this earth? Why is this more incredible than that the Mediator should upon this earth purchase the glory of governing the rest of the universe, and that he should

* Eph. iii. 9, 10. † 2 Cor. iv, 15.

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govern the whole with: reference to his church?— points which are, in the clearest manner, revealed. It is said that he humbled himself and became obedient untodeath: — WHEREFORE God also hath highly exalted him ;-—that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things: in heaven; and things in earth; and things under the earth, — He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is: to come; AND HATH PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET, AND GAVE HIM TO BE HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY, THE FULLNESS OF HIM THAT FILLETH ALL IN ALL. *

( a) The dominion conferred on Christ as a reward for what he performed on earth, seems not to have been limited to his church, but to have extended to the universe. Having by his death fulfilled the part, which in the covenant of redemption he had engaged to perform, he appeared to his disciples, and said unto them, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.* He was at that time more fully invested with the dominion of the universe, which, by anticipation, he had as Mediator enjoyed before his incarnation. I mean not to suggest the idea of the pre-existence of his human soul; he sustained the office of Mediator, and in this character governed the world, before he possessed any other than the divine nature. This universal dominion, which is temporary, is that which, at the conclusion of the final judgment, he will resign to the Father ; † while he will still retain dominion in Zion, and according to ancient promises will hold the throne of his father David forever.

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What purpose the Mediator intended to answer by other worlds and their inhabitants, in prosecuting the plan of redemption, we do not fully comprehend. The angels, it is well known, are subject to him as ministering spirits to his church, and look with prying curiosity and astonishment into the mysteries of redemption.* But what use he makes of other worlds we are not told in his word, farther than that they are put under his dominion; and we also know that they serve to instruct his church, while they influence, adorn, and enlighten the earth on which it resides. And whatever inhabitants they contain, we must believe that they do now, or will in some future period, bend to look into the transcendent wonders of redemption, and will take lessons of deep instruction and interest from the astonishing scenes which are unfolded on the earth. (a)

But passing by other worlds, the one which we inhabit was certainly made for the Mediator. This is the favoured world where he was to assume the nature that was intended to form the connecting link between God and creatures; where he was to found a church to be a spectacle to angels and to men ; † where he was to display the most august and awful wonder

(a). If the sentiment that other worlds were created for the; Mediator should not appear sufficiently supported, I am willing it should be understood as expressed rather hypothetically than positively. The author has no title either to the honour or difhonour of originating the idea, which has been held by divines of reputation, and possesses at least the negative merit of not contradicting any of the doctrines of our church.

* Heb i. 14. , 1 Pet..,i. 12. † 1 Cor. iv. 9.

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of his death. Here he was to find a miserable race, without help and without hope, immersed in vice and ignorance, groaning under the curse of a holy law, and sinking into everlasting wo. Such an occasion was to be presented for the exercise of his unequalled compassion, for an exhibition of the infinite tenderness of his heart; the history of which is inscribed on the tablet of the earth in tears and blood;— the history of which has been a million of times repeated by deeply affected angels, and will be rehearsed in the songs of the redeemed to eternity. To this earth, and to Calvary, me thinks I see every eye directed from the most distant world which God has made. All feem to point to this, and say, Behold, for once, what infinite love could do!

The several texts and arguments already adduced prove emphatically that this earth, and all its furniture were created for the Mediator. And further to confirm this idea let me ask, what valuable purpose, except by means of the Mediator, could a world be expected to answer, which, it was foreseen, would so quickly be ruined by sin. What valuable end, in any other way, has it in fact answered. We judge of the design of a thing by the use to which it is put, To what valuble use then

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has the earth been put, but to bring glory to God and good to creatures, through the mediation of Christ? If it was designed for the happiness of men, none have tasted happiness in it since the fall, or found it a passage to heaven, but by the Mediator. That Priest only has procured its blessings ; that Prophet only has instructed its ignorance; that King only has dispensed its comforts. If it was created for the glory of God, this glory shines only in the face of Jesus Christ.* No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. † Him only have men beheld ; only his works and providence do men contemplate. Not one purpose desirable to benevolence, or illustrative of the wisdom or goodness of its Author, is answered by the earth, but in consequence of the mediation of Christ. And of all the displays of divine glory, the richest appear in his incarnation and atonement, in the pardon and government which be administers in the church. As the earth has in fact answered no desirable purpose, but through the agency of the Mediator, such a fact must have been foreseen in the day of its creation, and it must have keen made only for the sake of the good to be accomplished by Christ. It was erected for a theatre on which he might make an exhibition of the divine perfections in redeeming his church, and punishing his enemies: and this being its design, the work of erecting it was, of course, assigned to him for whose use it was intended. He formed every continent and

* 2 Cor. iv. 6 † John i. 18.

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ocean, every lake and island, every mountain and valley, to serve a race, who, he foresaw, would fall, and whom he was determined to redeem. He created every beast that ranges the desert, every fowl that flutters under the arch of heaven, every fish that dwells in the caves of ocean, ‘every drop, and every dust,’ to subserve his great design of grace. The whole plan of this world, including creation and providence, including every event from its beginning to the final judgment, was involved in the plan of redemption. The plan is one, though comprehending a vast variety of parts. Among this variety, some parts are designed to fit the earth, by innumerable secret and nameless influences, for the accommodation of a race to be redeemed ;—others, to unfold the wretched character and condition of men, to illustrate their need of a Saviour, and the richness of redeeming grace. Others are intended to prepare the way for carrying into effect the purposes of mercy, and to facilitate, in many ways, their accomplishment.

Does the question arise, how is it possible that every minute substance and event should be serviceable to the kingdom of Christ? The Speaker does not presume to explain all the particular relations and tendencies of God's works; but this, in general, must be granted,—they are all designed ,to promote the glory of God, though the manner cannot be explained. Give me this, and you give me all: for what ever promotes the glory of God was needful to the kingdom of Christ, since the discovery of God,

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to men was an essential part of the plan of restoring them to the enjoyment of him. The objection that we cannot discover the manner in which every thing renders service to Christ, does not disprove our doctrine. If in so, simple a device as a manufactory constructed by human art, buildings must be erected, and many machines, instruments, vessels, and different subtances employed, the use of some of which a stranger would be unable to explain, though all are subordinate to one end; it is no wonder that the stupendous plan of redeeming a world should contain an inconceivable variety of parts, the subserviency of many of which, though necessary to the result, should elude our research.

As the earth was created for the Mediator, so it is preserved to be the residence of his church ; in allusion to which fact the church is called the salt of the earth, as being the occasion of saving it from dissolution.*

By Christ, and for Christ, the earth is also governed. Having erected this theatre for an exhibition of redeeming grace, he took the management of it into his own hands, and put it to the use for which it was intended He early established a church upon it, and in the character of Mediator took into his hands its universal government. Made head over all things to the church, he has marched down the tracts of ages, holding the north in his right hand, and the south in his left, with his eye irnmoveably fixed upon this

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single cause, and forcing all nations and events to pay tribute to it. In the history of his government which the Holy Ghost has sketched, we trace his dealings with nations and individuals for many ages, and view his providence under a column of light which discloses its tendency and object. Here we discover his hand employed behind the scene, in directing the affairs of many inferior nations, and especially of the four great empires of antiquity, with pointed reference to his church. Looking through the glass of prophesy, we discern that throne which Ezekiel saw in his vision, rolling on the wheels of providence down the descent of time to the end of the world, prostrating every interest raised against his church, and overturning to prepare the way for the full establishment of his kingdom upon earth. Under his government, the apostle expressly declares, all things, work together for good to his church; all things are theirs, whether the world, —or things present, or things to come.* The revolutions of empires, rebellions and wars, the councils of kings, and the debates of senates, are all pressed into the service of Christ. Bibles, sacraments, sabbaths, and the effusions of the Holy Spirit, have no other object. Seed time and harvest, famine and pestilence, tempests, volcanoes, and earthquakes, are all made to advance his interest.

As this world was wholly intended for the scene of redemption, all the good which it contains belongs to the plan of grace that was laid in Christ. His

* Rom. v iii. 28. 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22.

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kingdom comprises every valuable object which God proposed to himself in creating, preserving, and governing the Wor1d,—the whole amount of his glory upon earth, and the immortal blessedness of millions of men. It is the only cause on earth that is worth an anxious thought. It is the only interest which God pursues or va1ues, and the only object worthy of the attention of men. For this sole object were they treated, and placed in this world, with social affections adapted to their present state, with employments appointed for the preservation of their lives. No one interest distinct from the kingdom of Christ are they required to pursue. No laws but those which appertain to this kingdom, and which of course respect only the concerns of it, were ever enacted by heaven to direct their conduct. Their secular employments, their social duties, are enjoined only as subordinate to the interests of this kingdom. Their private and social propensities they are not indeed required to extinguish; but with these about them, to march with a strong and seady step directly towards this great object, with their eye filled with its magnitude, and with hearts glowing with desires for its promotion. It is required that whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do, they should do all with reference to this object. As then we can rely on the decision of infinite wisdom, expressed both in the example and precepts of God, we are assured that this kingdom ought to engross the supreme cares of men, and exert a commanding influence over all their actions;—that it should be the great object of their lives, and their governing motive every hour. The bosom

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of the child should be taught to beat with delight at the name of Jesus, before it is capable of comprehending the nature of his kingdom. The youth ought to regulate all his pleasures, his actions, and his hopes with an eye fixed on this kingdom. The man ought to respect it in every important undertaking, in all his common concerns, in the expressions of his lips, in the government of his passions, in the thoughts of his heart. Not worldly emolument or distinction, but the interest of the blessed Redeemer, should be his highest object,—should be daily and hourly loved and fought with all his heart and soul. To this should he consecrate all his talents, all his influence, all his wealth. Instead of pursuing with headlong zeal their separate interests, all men should join in promoting this kingdom, as the common interest of mankind,—the great concern for which they were sent into the world.

If the eyes of men were opened, they would see this cause to be of infinite value;—worthy to be the object for which all things were created. It is the cause which not only all the energies of nature, but all beings and agents, conspire to advance. It is the beloved cause on which the heart of the Son of God was set, when it beat in the babe of Bethlehem, and when it bled on the point of the spear. It is the cause to which angels have zealously ministered ; to which devils have involuntarily lent their aid. It is the cause which has engaged the ardent attention of wise and good men in every age. If is the cause for which patriarchs prayed, for which prophets taught,

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for which apostles toiled, for which martyrs bled. For the consummation of this cause upon earth many eyes have waited, from age to age, in unwearied expectation; many prophets and righteous men have desired to see it; many who sealed their faith with their blood, looked forward to this glorious event with eyes glistening in the agonies of death. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together to bring forth this grand consummation.

The cause of Christ is the only one which will prevail and live amidst the wrecks of time. Strong, as the arm of omnipotence, it will hold on in its majestic course, bearing down and crushing every thing that resists its progress. Every .interest that is placed on this foundation is safe ; but inevitable ruin awaits every thing beside. Wo to the man whose destinies are not united with the kingdom of Christ. Wo, wo to the man who sets himself to oppose this holy kingdom.

Though at present disregarded by men, the kingdom of Christ is defined to engage the profound attention of all nations. It is defined to banish from the abodes of men the miserable effects of the fall, and to restore all the tribes of the earth to themselves and to God. When the glories of this kingdom shall cover all lands,,—when,, after a long succession of wintry years, the Spring time of the world shallcome,—when the beauties of holiness shall clothe every region, and songs of salvation shall float in every breeze;—then will it be seen that the world was not

[ 20 ]

made in vain. It is transporting to look down the vale of time, and see the miseries of six thousand years come to an end, the convulsions of a disordered world composed, and the glory of Zion filling all the earth. Lend me an angel’s harp, while I look forward to approaching scenes, which, distant as they then were, enraptured the souls of the holy prophets. How divinely did they sing, when, from the mount of vision, they beheld across the shade of many troublous years the church sanding on the field she, had won, triumphantly shouting, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice. in his salvation.* —Sometimes in the midst of their sorrows, while nothing was escaping them but the sounds of a breaking heart, a glimpse of this glory would break upon their view ; and then the tear which flood in their eye forgat to fall, their half uttered sigh died upon their tongue, they awoke to rapture, and exclaimed, Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Zion, for the time to favour her, yea the set time has come. †

The church has hitherto possessed but a small proportion of a world created for its use ; but the day is drawing on, when the everlasting gospel shall, be preached to every kindred, and tongue, and people; —when from the rising of thes fun, unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord shall be great among the gentiles ; when all shall know him from the least to the greatest, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And the

† See an instance of this nature in the cii. Psalm.

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ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Their sun shall no more go down, nor their moan withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning shall be ended. A thousand times ten thousand captives shall drop their chains, and come forth to light with joys too big for utterance ; and this miserable world, once the emblem of hell,—this miserable world, after being so long shaken with tempests, shall, like the waters of a peaceful pool, reflect the image of heaven. Paradise shall be restored ; and then shall appear, to the confusion of all the enemies of Christ, the blessed efficacy of his gospel to heal the wounds of a bleeding world. This is the triumph of the woman’s seed ; this, the bruising of the serpent’s head. Is not every christian rapt as he thus views from Pisgah the promised rest on earth ? Is enthusiasm here a crime? Would not coldness be rebellion ? Come, thou Desire of nations, come!

Come, thou restorer of a world!

Lo, a still more transporting sight appears! My ravished eye beholds the kingdom of Christ advanced to the glories of the heavenly state. Faith looks through the vail which conceals the eternal world, and discerns thousands of millions of happy beings, ransomed from destruction and brought home to their Father’s house ;—it beholds the church encircling the throne of her Redeemer, casting her honors at his feet, buried in the ocean of his glory, united to the Father by ineffable relation, while all

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heaven is ringing with hosannas for redeeming love :—there, there is the august kingdom completed which God at first undertook to erect ! Say now,—pronounce,—is not the object worthy of all the means employed for its attainment ? Do you hesitate ? Looks and think again : Follow only one human soul into eternity; trace its endless course through delights which flesh and blood could not sustain, or through fire sufficient to melt down all the planets ;—pursue it -through the ascending degrees of its eternal progression, see it leaving behind the former dimemsions of seraphim and cherubim, and still stretching towards God; or sinking forever in the bottomless abyss—My -God! what an event is the redemption of a single soul! O the infinite mercy that redeemed such countless millions ! O the boundless compassion of Christ,—the ocean without a bottom or a shore ! O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, which , are disclosed hi this unfathomable plan of grace !

Where are infatuated infidels now ? Bring up hither all their bands to behold the glorious Agent, and the glorious interest, which they oppose. Julian, Celsus, and Porphory, what now think you of Christ ? Voltaire, Hume, Gibbon, and Bolingbroke, where are now those tongues which blasphemed the anointed Messiah ? Let our subject burst like ten thousand thunders upon those, who in rejecting the Mediator resist all the designs of God, who would destroy the only interest of the universe, who are fatally contending with all the energies of omnipotence !

Oh that I had a voice to reach the heart of impenitent sinners of every class. Knew ye the infinite

[ 23]

glories of our Messiah, the darling of heaven, the wonder of angels, the august Agent of the universe ;—knew ye your ruin and necessities ,—knew ye the tenderness of Him who wept because you would fin ,—who, to save your wretched souls, sweat drops of blood, and expired on the ragged irons; you would not thus idly pass by his reeking cross, you would not thus refuse him reverence, and coldly cast away the benefits of his dying love.

In applying this subject I would summon, were able, all the kingdoms of the earth to arise in one mass to urge forward the cause of the Redeemer. Assemble, ye people, from the four quarters of the globe; awake, ye nations, from your sleeping pillow, combine in this grand object of your existence,— this common interest of the world. Ye kindreds and tribes, why are ye searching for happiness out of this kingdom, and overlooking the cause of Christ, as though he had no right to hold an interest on earth ? Know ye that no man is licensed to set up another interest on this ground which is sacred to the Redeemer. What have you to do in this world if you will not serve the Lord’s Anointed? If you will not submit to his dominion, and join to advance his cause, go, go to some other world—this world was made for Christ.———But whither can you go from his presence? All worlds are under his dominion. Ah ! then return, and let your bosoms swell with the noble desire to be fellow-workers with the inhabitants of other worlds in serving this glorious kingdom.

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My brethren, my brethren! while all the agents in the universe are employed, some with fervent desire, and others by involuntary instrumentality, to advance the cause of Christ, will an individual of you refuse it your cordial support? Can you, in the centre of universal action, consent to remain in a torpid state, absorbed in private cares, and contracted into a littleness for which you were not designed? Awake and generously expand your desires, to encircle this benevolent and holy kingdom. God, who has set you an example of exclusive regard to this object, demands it of you. Christ, who purchased the church with his blood, demands it of you. The holy angels, who incessantly minister to the church, demand it of you. The illustrious army of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, by their services and sufferings for the church, demand it of you. How then can you meet the eyes of this awful company of spectators, who watch you from every window of heaven, unless you rouse every sleeping faculty, and with your collected powers join to advance tile kingdom of the Redeemer?

My brethren, there is much for you to do. Though the world was made for Christ, though all the nations of it are intended to swell his triumph, yet, at this very moment, five parts out of six of that race for whom he shed his sacred blood, are perishing in ignorance of his gospel, chained in miserable and degrading servitude to satan, many of them are also suffering all the hardships of a barbarous slate, without domestic or civil order, wallowing in

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the sinks of vice, and besmearing the altars of devils with human blood. Touched with affection for Him who pitied us that we might pity others, —for Him who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we though his poverty might be rich ; Can we forbear to cherish the pious wish that he may enjoy the reward of his dying love ? Do not our hearts throb with desire to be instrumental in giving him the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession ?

Distinguished will be the glory of that generation who shall be selected to bear a conspicuous part in this blessed work. If those who are now alive on the earth decline this honour, it will certainly be seized by a more generous and holy posterity. To the present generation, however, it seems fairly tendered by the existing indications of divine providence. Great events appear to be struggling in their birth. In the eager attitude of hope, many are looking for the dawn of a better day, and even believe that they already see the light purpling the east. The Christian world, after long contenting itself with prayers for the heathen, and with saying, Be ye warmed and filled, is awaking to more charitable views. Men, warmed with apostolic zeal, have abandoned the comforts of civilized life, and are gone to the ends of the earth, to bear to benighted nations the first tidings of a precious Saviour. Numerous societies have risen into existence on both fides of the Atlantic, under whose patronage missionaries are now employed from India to the American wilderness, from Greenland to the southern ocean. Some of the

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first fruits of their labours, I hope, are already gathered into the heavenly garner. While our brethren are thus summoning us from the four quarters of the earth to come up to the help of the Lord, let us not incur the curse of Meroz; let us quickly put our hands to the work left it be done without us. If we altogether hold our peace at this time, then shall there enlargement arise from another place ; but we and our father’s house may be destroyed.* But why should I thus speak ? You, my brethren, have already felt the heavenly impulse ; you have given to the Lord and the affecting accounts of your missionaries show that you have received, thus early, the blessing of some who were ready to perish.

Let us still pursue the glorious design, and rise above every objection which a cold, calculating spirit may cast in our way. We are bound to persevere by the express command to go forth into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. We are bound by mercies which we ourselves have received. Had not benevolent men devoted their property and lives to bring the gospel to our fathers, we might, this evening, have been assembled, not in this temple of God, but to sacrifice our children on the altar of devils. Methinks I hear those generous spirits crying from the verge of heaven, Freely ye have received, freely give.

efforts of his

* Esth. iv. 14,

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brethren, coolly says that he submits the fate of the heathen to God. Do you call this submission? Put it to the test ;—does it preserve you equally composed by the bed of your dying child.? While the pressure of private afflictions can torture your soul, call not the apathy with which you view nations sinking into hopeless ruin,—call it not submission, nor bring the government of God to sanction a temper as cruel as it is common. Will the government of God convert the heathen without the means of grace ? What nation was ever so converted ? It is contrary to the established method of divine grace. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? No, my brethren, missionaries must go among them; and they must be supported. They cannot support themselves; they cannot derive support from the heathen; nor can they expect to be fed by ravens. Who then shall sustain the expense if not the christian world ? and what portion of the christian world rathter than the American churches ? and what district of these churches rather than that in which we are assembled? and what individuals rather than ourfelves ? Heaven has given us the means ; we are living in prosperity on the very lands from which the wretched pagans have been ejected ; from the recesses of whose wilderness a moving cry is heard, When it is well with you, think o fpoor Indians. This is not ideal ; we have received such messages written with their tears.

No, we will not shift this honourable burden upon others. We would sooner contend for it as a privilege.

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But we need not contend ; it is ample enough to satisfy the desires of all. The expense of christianizing only the savages on our borders will be great ; but to extend effectual aid to all the benighted tribes on the American continent, to the numerous islands, to the vast regions of Asia and Africa, would demand the resources of christendom. Every man is under bonds to God to bear his full proportion of this expense. For whom but for the Redeemer was your wealth created? Thus faith the Lord, Your silver, and your gold is mine. The flocks of Kedar, and the gold of Sheba, were created to bring tribute to his church. Should we sordidly close our hands against him, he can, with infinite ease, extort a hundred fold, by sending a blast into our fields, a

of a temper to prefer the blessing of God to mammon. To the merciful he will shew himself merciful; but whose stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

I have nothing to spare, is the plea of sordid reluctance. But a far different sentiment will be formed amidst the scenes of the last day. Men now persuade themselves that they have nothing to spare till they can support a certain style of luxury, and have provided for the establishment of children. But in the awful hour when you, and I, and all the pagan nations,
shall be called from our graves to stand before the bar of Christ, what comparison will these objects bear to the salvation of a single soul? Eternal mercy let not the blood of the heathen millions, in that hour, be found in our skirts —Standing, as I now do; in sight of a dissolving universe, beholding the dead arise, the world ,in flames, the heavens fleeing away, all nations convulsed with terror, or rapt in the vision of the Lamb,—I pronounce the conversion of a single pagan of more value than all the wealth that ever omnipotence produced. On such an awful subject it becomes me to speak with caution; but I solemnly aver, that were there but one heathen in the world, and he in the remotest corner of Asia, if no greater duty confined us at home, it would be worth the pains for all the people in America to embark together to carry the gospel to him. Place your soul in his soul’s stead.- Or rather consent for a moment to change condition with the Savages on our borders. Were you polling on to the judgment of the great day, in the darkness and pollution of pagan idolatry

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and were they living in wealth in this very district of the church, how hard would it seem for your neighbours to neglect your misery! When you should open your eyes in the eternal world, and discover the ruin in which they had suffered you to remain, how would you reproach them that they did not even fell their possessions if no other means were sufficient, to send the gospel to you. My flesh trembles at the prospect !————But they shall not reproach us. It shall be known in heaven that we could pity our brethren. We will send them all the relief in our power, and will enjoy the luxury of reflecting what happiness we may entail on generations yet unborn, if we can only effect the conversion of a single tribe.

All that remains for .me to add is a fervent prayer, that He who is viewing from heaven the events of this evening, may encline your hearts to the noblest charity, and may reward it with everlasting blessings on you and your children. Amen.

THE END.

ON THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING,

COMMON WEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

SECOND EDITION.

1805.

This document was scanned from an original printing.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file March 11, 2003.

See his 1810 Election Sermon To Massachusetts Governor Christopher Gore, which further expounds his views of Jefferson, and "Enlightenment" thinking, with practical effects well noted! Available at the Willison Center.

To aid the reader, we have retained the original page numbers in brackets as shown here: [ 3 ]

The following begins the original text:

Prov. xxix. 2.

E that rules the nation has incalculable influence on their opinions and morals. He commands the respect of those around his person, and the veneration of the multitude. Every class of people is affected. Officers of state receive the first impressions; they are communicated to their friends; they are gradually conveyed down to the hewer of wood and drawer of water. Yet, in the opinion of many, it is of no importance whether a ruler be a religious or a wicked man. Such persons need to be informed that the history of nations, and the oracles of God, declare, that when a wicked man beareth rule the people mourn. Whether he rule under the title of Sultan, Emperor, King₃ Governor, or President, the effect is precisely the same.

THE text naturally leads us to mention some of the reasons why the people mourn, or have cause to mourn, when a wicked man beareth rule.

I. THE people have cause to mourn, when the wicked beareth rule, for it is an evidence that they are wicked.

A WICKED ruler is the natural punishment of a wicked people. God did not place wicked Saul on

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the throne of Israel till the people had become wicked. He sent them Ahab in a season of great apostacy. Jereboam was their king when they were ripe for idolatry, and crimes of blackest hue. The remark applies with peculiar force to an elective government. None but a wicked man can prefer a wicked ruler. Goodness is always delighted with goodness. If a whole nation prefer a wicked man, it demonstrates the wickedness of the nation. As fever and plague prove the malignity of the atmosphere, so the wickedness of the government proves the wickedness of the people. God does not send a wicked ruler to a good people; he never did. A good people will not endure a wicked ruler they never did.

HERE then is ample cause for public mourning, when the wicked beareth rule. It proves that the nation have forsaken their God. When a Jereboam or a Pharaoh administers the government, we may infer that the religious character of the people is correspondent. Dark is the mind, cold and malignant the heart, which does not mourn in view of such a melancholy prospect, a nation wandering in error and guilt,

II. The people mourn when wicked man beareth rule, because he confirms and increases the depravity of the nation.

THE depravity of a ruler as spontaneously descends to the people, as the rivulet runs down the hill. The influence of a ruler powerfully tends to beat down all opposition, and to give a spirit to the public mind in unison with his own. The first office of a nation, in the hands of a wicked man, is like a vast noxious lake, bursting its barriers, overflowing

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all the springs and rivers of the country, communicating its own malignity wherever it extends.

SOME tribes of men have called their rulers suns* ; and suns they are if wise; the world is darkness or light, as they are good or bad men. in a thousand ways the ruler produces a character in the nation like his own. Every page of history demonstrates this fact. The example of a wicked ruler makes wickedness fashionable ; vice lifts her face from the dust; she lays aside her blushes, and boldly shows herself in public. Does he neglect the worship of God, profane the Sabbath, ridicule the, sacraments, and deride the Saviour; how many imbibe his spirit, imitate his conduct, borrow his dialect, and multiply his blasphemies!

Br elevating bad men to office, by covering them with splendor, and loading them with honors, a ruler may give impunity to crimes, and reputation to vice. As the towering Andes diffuse " intolerable cold" in the torrid zone, so a wicked man, in the seat of authority, spreads immorality and irreligion in the soundest part of the community. "The son of Nebat made Israel to sin;" every wicked ruler may make his people sin.

Is not here cause for the people to mourn? Is it not matter of grief and distress to see a people wading in guilt, and sinking deeper and deeper in the fatal abyss? If those already wandering from God, and duty, and forsaking their own mercies, are encouraged and animated to pursue the dangerous course, if the tender glow of benevolence warm the heart, if man call himself the brother of man, will he not drop the tear of compassion, as such a scene opens; before him ? It is a political axiom of other

* The Natchez. See Du Pratz.

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times, "When the vilest men are exalted, the wicked walk on every side." *

III. THE people have reason to mourn when the ruler is wicked, because they lose that immense influence, which a good man would exert in favour of morals and piety.

THE happy effects of a pious ruler on the morals and religion of a country exceed all calculation. As the angel from heaven strengthened the holy Prophet of Bethlehem in his agony in the garden, a pious and upright ruler comforts and encourages his faithful and good people.. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. † How salutary was the reform of good Josiah, when his subjects were sunk in idolatry and profligate wickedness! To effect this reformation he himself travelled through the principal cities of his kingdom. By his example, by his devout conversation, and by his authority, he bore down all iniquity. He cut down the groves of the idols;. he threw down their altars; he burned, the bones of the false prophets; he punished. gross crimes, he renewed covenant with God in a most public manner; his people joined with him in the solemn oath to God.. By his personal influence he produced a general reformation through the land. ‡ Such was Josiah; such have been other kings. All this is lost, lost, and more than lost, when, the wicked beareth rule. It is then as if the sun, refusing to refresh and cheer the world, were to set on fire the dwellings of men, and wrap the fields in devouring flame. Will not every man mourn and tremble at such a prospect?

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IV. THE people ought to mourn when the wicked beareth rule, because it may be expected, he will oppress and persecute the best members of the community.

IT IS from respectable authority, " As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler." Gravitation will cease, before a wicked ruler and a good people will cordially unite. Who was the king who " did not obey the voice of the Lord;" "who rejected the word of the Lord ?" It was he who butchered "fourscore and five priests, the ministers of the Lord."† Who was the king "that stretched out his hand with scorners; that was glad at the wickedness of the people ?" "It was he, who devoured the Judges."‡

THE faithful minister, and the upright judge, are obnoxious to a wicked ruler: their ruin may be expected as soon as public opinion will permit. But too impressive are such reflections. When a wicked man beareth rule, the people may in silence mourn, left they should see the day, when terror shall be in every heart, and distress in every countenance.

V. THE people have cause of mourning when the wicked ruleth; for then probably the faithful ministers of religion will lose much of their influence, and others will betray the cause they had engaged to support.

BEING men of like passions with others, the teachers of religion are too often disposed to float down the current of depravity with the people. Like others, they desire the friendship of the great and

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powerful: therefore, "when wicked men sway," they are strongly inclined to drop the silver trumpet of the gospel, and strike an unison with a corrupt administration. In the best association there was a Judas. How fatal must this be to the religious interests of the station! The fountains of instruction are polluted and poisoned ; the streams expected to convey life and health, are channels of moral disease and death. How lamentable the state of morals and religion, when the ministers of religion, instead of reproving and condemning vice and infidelity in every mode and form, apologize for a wicked ruler, alluring the people that a hardy infidel may be as desirable a magistrate as a pious Christian ; that true religion has no concern with civil government! Would these fathers commit the education of their daughters to a learned highwayman? What concern has uprightness of character with the fine arts ?

WHEN such apostles form the public mind. what must be the discipline, and what the doctrines, of the church? Such a priesthood is sometimes is the produce of an irreligious administration. When Ahab was king, the prophets of Baal were four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, while the faithful prophet cries to God, "The children of lsrael have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I alone, am left, and they seek my life to take it away." * Yes, in the worst of times some have faithful stood, undaunted stood, as a rock of the billows, or the hill of storms. Some have declared the truth from their miry dungeons, or have gone into the lion's den, or the burning, fiery furnace, or have been

* 2 Kings, xix. 14

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sawn asunder, rather than suppress a single syllable of divine truth. Daniel was the same in the Academy of Babylon, as in the land of his nativity; the same in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, as among the captives of Israel. Still the prospect is deplorable. As the pilot’s voice is lost in the howlings of the storm, so the, most serious warnings are disregarded, when wickedness is arrayed with power. When the ruler’s voice condemns the heaven-taught seer, then the multitude cry, "Crucify him, crucify him." They bid defiance to the thunders of Sinai, and repel the enchanting strains of Calvary. So are the pastors of the flock allured from their duty, or disregarded, if they found an alarm, when a wicked man beareth rule. Will not the people mourn?

VI. WHEN a wicked man beareth rule, it is pro per the people should mourn, because there is then evidence of the approaching judgments of Heaven.

THIS doctrine is taught in the history of ages; it is taught in the book of God. The Prophet says, " Then there was a famine three years ;" a terrible calamity; and some great evil must have been the cause." The cause was found in their wicked ruler. The Lord answered David, "It is for Saul and for his bloody house." *

We read in 2 Kings, "Because Manasseh, king of Judah hath done these abominations, therefore thus saith the Lord, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle." Again we read, that " the Lord turned not away from the fierceness of his great wrath, because of all the provocations of Ma nasseh

* 2 Sam. xxi. 1.

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with which he had provoked him." * Years had passed away; .Manasseh was dead; a most excellent ruler had succeeded; the people were probably hoping their sufferings were past; yet their calamities burst upon them, as an overwhelming deluge. In the second reign after, the people were carried into captivity for the sins of Manasseh, or for the sins they had themselves committed, under the influence of his example. Egypt’s plagues, and Canaan’s woes, give the same warning lesson to nations. The twelve standards of Israel were invincible, while they obeyed God as their king. But in the reign of their first wicked ruler, after a series of disasters, their army is defeated ; their king falls on his sword; the enemy take his carcass, set up his head in their temple, and hang his body on the walls of their city. So irresistibly do the judgements of God follow the elevation of a wicked man to the government of a nation. Must not the people mourn in view of’ their own, danger, "when the wicked beareth rule ?"

FROM these remarks the following reflections occur.

1. THE people of this Commonwealth have great reason to rejoice and be thankful.

THE righteous are in authority; it is the duty of the people, to rejoice. For the purity of his morals, for the uniformity of his religious walk, our First Magistrate is distinguished. As a man of God he is a terror to evil doers, and a praise to them that do well. As an officer .in the church of Christ, he gives authority to virtue, and honor to the Christian name. This day of gladness he stands conspicuous

* 2 Kings xxiii. 26

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on the catalogue of our mercies. Our fields have yielded their expected harvest ; our pastures have been cheerful with flocks and herds ; the voice of health has cheered our dwellings ; our cup has overflowed with plenty; our children, as olive plants, have encircled our tables; our privileges are continued, the gospel sounds, and a righteous man beareth rule. "Be-glad and rejoice in the Lord; eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart."

2. If a wicked ruler is such a cause of mourning, then is it duty for every man to exert his influence to prevent the elevation of such an one to the first office of the nation.

"It is the law of the Lord ;" the law of the Lord cannot be violated with impunity;" it is the law of the Lord that thou shouldest provide, out of all the people, able men, such as fear God ;* men of truth." He that ruleth over., men must be just, ruling in the fear of God; † for it is an abomination for rulers to commit wickedness. ‡ Almost every man may give his suffrage for the first magistrate in a nation. If you have performed this duty in such a manner, as will tend not only to elevate a man of talents, but one, who is friendly to, our holy religion, you have done well; your conscience may rest in peace, whatever may be the final result. But if there be a man, who has. given his suffrage in such a manner, as will tend to raise one to the first office of the country, who is unfriendly to our religion, his guilt is of a crimson colour. He has lifted his hand to pull down attain of calamities on himself and country.

* Exodus xviii: 21. † 2 Samuel xxiii. 3 ‡ Proverbs xvi. 12.

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3. If the people mourn when the wicked beareth rule, then have not the people of the United States reason to mourn?

THE thought is serious, is melancholy, is distressing, but is, alas! too easily confirmed. Therefore, though oppressed with high veneration for the first office of the country, penetrated with profound respect for public opinion, tremblingly alive with impressions for that decorum demanded of public teachers, and ardently desirous of approbation from those in authority as benevolence to man permits, we infer that the people of the United States have reason to mourn. For evidence we shall not rely on the uncontradicted assertions of our public gazzettes, however probable and well authenticated they may be. Though in some instances time and place, and names of persons, are mentioned, with every circumstance calculated to produce belief, yet we entirely discard such evidence. Possibly it may not be true. We shall be more certain than if we appealed to eyewitnesses for evidence of what we intend to establish. We shall appeal to testimony which cannot be false.

In a book entitled, "Notes on the State of Virginia," bearing the name of the First Magistrate Of the United States, which he has never disavowed, and which therefore we may consider as certainly his work, in page 28 * and onward he says, "Near the eastern foot of the North Mountain are immense bodies of Schift, containing impressions of shells in a variety of forms. I have received petrified shells of very different kinds from the first sources of the Kentucky. It is said that shells are

* Philadelphia, printed by Prichard and Hall 1788.

[ 13 ]

found in the Andes in South America, fifteen thousand feet above the level of the ocean. This," saith he, "is considered by many, both of the learned and unlearned, as a proof of an universal deluge." Then he adds, "To the many considerations opposing this opinion, the following may be added. The atmosphere and all its contents, whether of water, air, or other matters, gravitate to the earth; that is to say, they have weight. Experience tells us that the weight of all these together never exceeds that of a column of mercury of 31 inches height, which is equal to one of rain water of 35 feet deep; but as these waters, as they fell, would run into the seas, the superficial measure of which is to that of the dry parts of the globe as two to one, the seas would be raised only 52 1/2 feet above their present level, and of course would overflow the low lands to that height only. In Virginia this would be a very small proportion, even of the champaign" or level "country, the banks of our tide waters being frequently if not generally, of a greater height. Deluges beyond this extent then, as for instance, to the North mountain, or to Kentucky, seem out of the laws of nature. But within it they may have taken place to I greater or less degree."

HERE are frank, open, and bold denials of revelation. An universal deluge is one of the principal facts of revelation. The Old Testament gives its history in the New Testament, Jesus Christ repeats the fact. If the deluge can be disproved, revelation must indubitably fall. What confidence can be placed in Moses or Jesus Christ, if the flood, which they declare took place, was a tale invented by one, and repeated by the other? Yet Mr. Jefferson declares, that a deluge beyond "a small

[ 14 ]

part of the level country of Virginia seems out of the laws of nature." Deluges within this level region, he says, may have taken place, but they could not reach to "the North mountain, or to Kentucky." But while he repels the scripture fact of an universal deluge, he says that "History renders probable some instances of partial deluges in the country lying round the Mediterranean Sea.? He believes there was a deluge in the low lands of Egypt and Armenia 2300 years before Christ, one in the low lands of Attica 500 years later; some in the law lands of Thessaly 300 years later still. "But such deluges as these" he still acknowledges, "will not account for the shells found in the higher lands." He therefore makes another effort to account for the shells found on the highest mountains, without granting the truth of the universal deluge which he constantly rejects.

"A SECOND opinion," he says, has been entertained, which is, that the bed of the ocean, the principal residence of the shelled tribe, has, by some great convulsion of nature been heaved to the height at which we now find shells and other remains of marine animals." But he instantly deserts this battery erected against revelation, as untenable, and acknowledges that "we may venture to say that no fact has taken place, either in our own day, or in the thousands of years recorded in history, which proves the existence of any natural agents, within or without the bowels of the earth, of force sufficient to heave to the height of fifteen thousand feet such masses as the Andes." The shells, therefore, still remain, like the hand writing before Belshazzar, and urge him to some other expedient to drive them from their post, as witnesses

[ 15 ]

an universal deluge. In this dilemma he consults with Voltaire. He tells us that " Voltaire has suggested a third solution of this difficulty ; that had the space of eighty years a particular spot, in Touraine, had been twice metamorphosed into soft stone, which had become hard when employed in building. In this stone, shells of various kinds were produced, discernable at first only with a microscope, but afterwards growing with the stone." But here he finds no satisfaction, for he confesses that Voltaire has not established even the fact; he confesses, "he has not left it on ground so respectable as to have rendered it an object of inquiry to the literati of his own country." That is, the assertion of Voltaire was so palpably false, that no man of science inquired whether there was a possibility of its truth. " Abandoning this fact, therefore," he says, the three hypothesis are equally unsatisfactory, and we must be content to acknowledge that this great phenomenon (the shells) is as yet unsolved." Observe, my friends, this declaration, full of meaning, full of evidence, that the writer disdains the authority of revelation. He says, "the three opinions are equally unsatisfactory." One of them is the rising of the mountains from the bottom of the sea. This he acknowledges has no facts to prove it. The other, rocks and shells growing out of the ground, he says, is not respectable enough to be an object of inquiry. The third is that of the Bible, an universal deluge. This he rejects, because all, the water of the atmosphere would raise the ocean only 52 1/2 feet. These three, he says, are equally unsatisfactory. That is, revelation is no better than an opinion, not supported by any fact in our own days, or the thousands of years recorded in history," or the bare assertion of Voltaire,

[ 16 ]

which was totally disregarded by his own friends. So our great Ruler in despair leaves the subject, adding, "There is a wonder somewhere ; ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth, who believe nothing, than he who believes what is wrong." Surely here is a melancholy conclusion of his elaborate inquiry.

THE points in debate are evident. The Bible says, "The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all flesh died that moved upon the earth." The deluge was, therefore, universal.

OUR Ruler says, it is "probable" that "partial deluges" have taken place "in Egypt," and other "low lands."

THE Bible says, "The high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered, and the mountains were covered."

OUR Ruler says, "Deluges beyond this extent, a small proportion of the level country in Virginia, have never taken place; but in this low region, "they may have taken place in a greater or lesser degree."

IN a very brief manner we shall notice a few other passages in unison with this.

IN page 169, our Author says, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such as only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no God."

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THIS sentence is not quoted on account of its proving any theory; for, in fact, it proves nothing, but the careless impiety of the pen, which traced it. This is precisely what we have undertaken to demonstrate. Still we may ask, is it no injury in a society of Christians to have men avow them selves pagans and atheists? Does it not tend to unhinge and destroy all social order? Would any Christian parent wish his children educated where men make a god of every thing but God or where in their hearts and words they banish God from the universe? Do not such "neighbours" grieve, and distress, and " injure," good men? do they not harden and render bad men worse? Are they not infinitely injurious to society? We submit the question to every person, who has a mind to think, or heart to feel.

IN page 171, speaking of religion, our Author observes, that Pennsylvania and New York

had long subsisted without any religious establishment. [This refers to a Government sanctioned church denomination, as per Britain's "Church of England", Willison Ed. ] He adds, "They flourish infinitely. Religion is well supported, of various kinds, indeed, but all good enough, all sufficient to preserve peace and order.

WERE all the languages of Babel at once to pour forth their hatred of religion, could they furnish on c phrase, expressive of more disdainful irony, of more cold-hearted contempt, than the phrases, "all good enough: all sufficient to preserve peace and order ?" The Christian religion then is a cunning fable, a political bugbear "to preserve peace and order !"

FINALLY: In page 108, speaking of the different languages of the American savages, our Author

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observes, there are twenty radical languages in America for one in Asia. He then asserts, that "for two dialects to recede from one another till they have lost all vestiges of their common origin, must require an immense course of time, perhaps not less than many people give to the age of the earth." Here is a sneer at revelation, the Bible making "the age of the earth less" than it is in the opinion of deists.* He then adds a bolder denial of revelation. "A greater number of those radical changes of language," he says, "having taken place among the red men of America, proves them of greater antiquity than those of Asia." This bold, unnecessary and wanton denial of revelation must have given the author great credit among the opposers of Christianity. They saw of a certainty that he was assisting them "to crush" the Son of God. He does not hide the hand, which gives the slab. Scripture fully asserts, that the families of Adam and Noah settled first in Asia ; the languages of that country, therefore, according to scripture, are the most ancient; but Mr. Jefferson, in the face of the Bible, says, the American languages are the most ancient that there is a fact, which "proves them of greater antiquity than those of Asia." † Does

not this prove

*See Brydone, &c. &c.

†Scripture assures us, that the ark of Noah rested ou one the mountains of Ararat. * This is a mountain of Asia. Berosus, Nicolaus, Damascenus and Josephus, declare that Ararat was a mountain of Armenia. Armenia is a province of Asia, consisting of the modern Turcomania and part of Persia. † Melo, an ancient writer, says, those men, who had escaped the flood, left Armenia. According to the Vulgate translation of the Bible, Moses says the ark rested on the mountain of Armenia ; but according to the Septuagint and Hebrew reading, it was a mountain of Ararat. According to Eusebius, the ark floated from Assyria to Armenia. And Epiphanius declares that the ark of Noah rested among the mountains of Armenia. Philostorgius states that the name of Ararat continued to his time. Ararat was a summit in the chain of Taurus.* Benjamin asserts that when he was there the Mahometans had a place of worship, built on Ararat, This sacred veneration for this memorable mountain has continued to modern times. Tavernier says that there are many monasteries upon mount Ararat, that the Armenians call it Meressoussar, because the ark rested there. Josephus says that the remains of the ark were to be seen in his time. John Strusis assures us that he ascended Ararat, and that a hermit, who rested there, declared that some broken pieces of the ark were still to be seen there, sowing him a cross he had made from the wood of that famous vessel. M. de Tournefort, who ascended Ararat, says, nothing of the ark is now to be seen; that the summit of the mountain is now inaccessible by reason of its great height, and the snow, which covers it. It is so high as to be seen by the caravans when distant three days journey. Ararat is near the city of Tauris, twelve leagues east of Erwan, a city of 800 houses. The Persians now call Ararat, Agri. it rises in lat. 45 N. Long. 79 E.

* Manechius Ainsworht

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prove that the people of the United States ought to mourn? He that beareth rule, believes not the word of God. He rejects the authority of revelation. If any man take from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take his part from the book of life.

We have heard the Ruler of the people deny the important scripture fact, an universal deluge; a fact asserted as explicitly as the language of mortals permitted, as explicitly as any words, which the Holy Spirit could select. This prepared him to deny the greater antiquity of the languages in Asia. These, however cautiously expressed, are two absolute denials of revelation. in unison with such a theory, he declares, that paganism and atheism, openly

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avowed, do "no injury" in society; that all "religions are good enough," which "preserve peace and order." Here our - examination shall close. The controversy is not with us; we simply state facts; facts which ought to make the nation tremble. The controversy is between Scripture and the "Notes on the State of Virginia ;" the controversy is between the Holy God and Mr. Jefferson.

IF the evils of a wicked ruler be so great, then the subject imperiously demands the attention of the Gospel Minister.

Ha is a watchman ;" if he see an enemy, and give not warning, he is responsible for all the consequences. He is a "Shepherd;" it is his duty to, guard his flock from every danger. Can he then be silent in view of the greatest danger? Is silence consistent with the faithful discharge of duty, when he sees the evidence of a general depravity, when he sees a cause operating to increase that depravity ? Can he be silent while observing the loss of that religious influence, which attends the administration of the wise and good, while he sees the sword of oppression, forming in the hands of power, while he hears the stern voice of instruction, melting away into the soft notes of adulation, while he sees the angry cloud of divine judgments ready to burst on his native land, on his beloved people? Does not the minister, who remains fluent in this situation, betray his important trust? Is he not false and faithless to the people of his charge? To lift the warning voice,

—" His own engagement binds him fast;

Or, if it does not, brands him to the last,

What atheists call him—a designing knave,

mere church juggler, hypocrite and slave."

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He eats the bread of his people, he drinks of their cup, he is warmed with their apparel, and yet like a traitor is dumb in the most awful crises of their affairs. He has given himself to them by covenant and by oath, and yet he is silent while he sees the clouds gather, the lightnings flash, and hears the thunders roar. Is he not a perjured wretch, and justly covered with infamy, while he sinks in the common ruin? Accordingly on account of their wicked rulers the ancient prophets denounced the woes of God on the people. Therefore, the general attention given to this subject by gospel ministers, instead of being a reasonable article of charge, entitles them to our confidence and gratitude. Their numerous warnings will be so many everlasting records of their integrity and faithfulness.

The theme we have contemplated is solemn, and is alarming as it is solemn. The minds of men seem remarkably swayed against their former opinions, their habits, their interest, and their safety. Is it possible that we should sigh for revolution, that we should revolt from the salutary institutions of our renowned fathers; those institutions, which have diffused light, and felicity, and social order, and pure religion; which have elevated us to wealth and glory? Does not such a restless spirit in us forebode approaching calamities? In another part of the land almost a million of saves, strengthened by new importations, roused by the success of their brethren, cannot long be idle. Their daggers thirst for blood, and their limbs tremble with revenge. The woes of the islands will doubtless be known on the main; the soil, which has been moistened with the sweat of the slaves, will probably be drowned in the blood of the masters.

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These to some are, doubtless, as the dreams of a: visionary, or the effusions of a melancholy spirit. Some perhaps rejoice to see the pure morals and serious religion of other times banished from society; they rejoice in a new order of things, new opinions, and new manners. They rejoice to see the wicked in authority. But have not the fatal effects of such an event been candidly shown from the word of God? Is it possible to doubt their reality? Will ye then weigh the subject in the balance of truth? Will ye seriously look forward to the final consequences ? Have ye hearts to rejoice in these evils, or will ye, must ye, finally rnourn with the people? Reflecting then on the present time, the influence ye are exerting, will not every thought be anguish, and every word a lamentation of self reproach? Do ye not already hear a voice from the tombs of your fathers, terrible as truth, and awful as eternity ?—

"Ye baptiz’d infidels,

"Ye worse for mending, wash’d to fouler stains,

Rouse from your dreams ere defolation comes;

‘Why make us blush for oar apostate heirs?

‘Why barter genial suns, and Sharon’s flowers,

‘For wandering meteors, and tempstuous storms ?"

A SERMON

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;

STANDING COMMITTEE OF MISSIONS,

MAY 19, 1806.

BY ELIPHALET NOTT, D. D.

Philadelphia.

PRINTED BY JANE AITKEN, NO. 62,

NORTH THIRD STREET.

1806.

This document was scanned from an original printing.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

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http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file May 2, 2001.

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

May 20th, 1806.

"Resolved, That the Standing Committee of Missions be directed to present the thanks of this Assembly to the Revd. Dr. Nott for his Sermon, and to request a copy thereof for Publication."

BY THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF

MISSIONS;

Resolved, That the thanks of this Committee be presented to the Revd. Dr. Nott, for his Missionary Sermon, delivered at their request."

1 COR. xv. 58.

ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD.

Son of man can these dry bones live? Thus spake God himself to Ezekiel in a vision: the circumstances of which were as follow.

The prophet had been carried away in the Spirit, and set down in a valley full of dry bones. Having passed round about this valley, and while surveying its silent and affecting ruins, a voice addressed him, Son of man can these dry bones live? To this interrogation the prophet gives not a decisive answer, but resolves the issue into the sovereignty of God. O Lord God thou knowest.

The voice which before interrogated now commands, Prophesy upon these dry bones and say unto them, hear the word of the Lord. The prophet obeys; and as he prophesies—Lo! the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin covers them above.

Over these bones, which as yet had no breath in them, the prophet was again commanded to prophecy, and again was obedient. Breath now came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Thus vision contains, in emblem, a representation of the promised recovery of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. This, however, is not all that it contains. Between the captive state of Judah and the fallen state of man there is a manifest analogy. The DRY BONES which are a striking emblem of the former, are a no less striking emblem of the latter. And the miracle of clothing these dry bones with flesh, and inspiring them with life, may be considered as the figure of another miracle, more astonishing, equally above the reach of man, and "decisively evincive of the agency of God."—I mean the miracle of a moral resurrection. Notwithstanding the life and vigour of the intellectual powers of man, revelation asserts, and experience confirms the melancholy assertion, that with respect to his moral powers he is dead in trespasses and sins.

The situation of the prophet prophesying over dry bones, resembles that of the evangelist calling on the spiritually dead to hear and live. And if in the former instance there was encouragement for the prophet to prophesy, in the latter, there is no less encouragement for the evangelist to preach. Success then depended, and now depends, not on the will of man but of God. And his arm is not shortened that it can not save, nor is his ear heavy that it can not hear.

Behold, christians, the ground of our hope for sinners, and, beholding it, be steadfast, unmoveable, ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD, for as much as, ye know that your labour is not in vain the Lord.

By abounding in the work of the Lord may be understood an acquiescence in the divine government, and a constant and cordial co-operation with the Divine Being, in accomplishing its objects; one of which, and an illustrious one too, is the establishment of the UNIVERSAL REIGN OF THE MESSIAH ON THE EARTH.

To induce your co-operation, particularly with respect to those pagan tribes who are within the reach of your exertion, shall be the object of the present meditation. And, 0 may God, in whose hands are the hearts of all men, give efficacy to the motives which may be presented!

In entering on this discourse, I might show, were it necessary, that the influence of Christianity, on the temporal as well as eternal interests of mankind, is more benign than Paganism.— But it is not necessary. You know by experience the benignity of the one, and were it possible to describe but half the malignity of the other, there is not a wretch in Christendom, who, afflicted at the contrast, would not exclaim, the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, I have a goodly heritage. Waving further remarks on the benignity of the Messiah’s reign on the earth, let me direct your attention to,

ITS CERTAINTY

The kingdoms of this world will assuredly become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.

Had Ezekiel entertained but a trembling hope, that the dry bones which spread the valley before him might possibly be reanimated, the force of humanity alone would have impelled him to prophesy over them. I look, on yonder Wilderness, the abode of wretched Pagans. This to me is a valley of dry bones. But I do not ask "can they live ?" I know they can. Yes! O my God, I know it because thou hast spoken it.—Do you enquire where God hath spoken this? You shall hear.

Thus saith the Lord, The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them and the, desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose. Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God. , He shall judge among the nations; and they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Delightful prospect! Then shall the bow of war be unbent, and the arrow of death loosed from its string. Then shall the huntsman, attracted by the sound of salvation, relinquish the pleasures of the chase, and the hoary warrior, touched by sovereign grace, shall ,lose his wonted cruelty; and turning from conquest with the benignity of heaven on his countenance, consecrate to charity the

spoils he had taken, and, bowing, lay his tomahawk and scalping-knife as a trophy at the foot of Jesus. For saith the Lord: It is a 1ight thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.

I repeat, christians, in your hearing; these declarations of God, and by repeating them I furnish you with evidence more incontestable that the end for which you labour will not ultimately be defeated, than I could furnish to the husbandman; from the analogy of nature and the experience of ages; that the end for which he labours will not.

The husbandman, however encouraged by the uncertain prospect of success; sows his seed and waits, in hope, the reward of harvest. The reward for which he waits may fail: but your reward cannot There must be a harvest of souls—a harvest immense and universal. The veracity of God is pledged to this effect. This pledge secures unalterably the event. The seasons may be interrupted in their course, the fig tree may cease to blossom, and the fruit of the olive fail—the flocks may be cut off from the fold and no herd remain in the stall—nay the earth itself may dissolve and the heavens, wrapped in flames, pass away; but the purpose of God cannot fail—his promise unaccomplished cannot pass away. Resting the certainty of the Messiah’s reign on the testimony of God, direct your attention to,

ITS PERPETUITY.

The homage which Jesus Christ is ultimately to receive from all nations, will not, like that paid him when entering Jerusalem, expire on the lips of those who offer it.

Man, the being of a day, is prone to consider the thoughts of God as his own thoughts, and the ways of God as his own ways. To the narrow sphere in which he moves, and to the short duration in which he exists, he confines his attention, and if all that inspiration promises is not instantly accomplished, he becomes impatient of delay and yields to infidelity. But the divine plan, whatever the thoughts of mortals may be concerning it, has dimensions, a length and breadth which cannot be measured; and to that eternal being who formed this plan, however incomprehensible the position may be to mortals, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

A want of attention to these truths, a predisposition to reduce the designs of Providence to humble human limits, has been to the enemies of revelation a pregnant source of objection, and to the friends of revelation a source of error and calamity.

It was a prevalent opinion, even among the immediate disciples of Jesus, that the dispensation of grace was then closing and that the end of all things sublunary was, literally, at hand. Happy

would it have been if a sentiment so derogatory to the Redeemer of mankind had expired with those who lived to see the first dawnings only of that day whose brightness has not even yet beamed on the world. But it did not expire with them ; it was handed down in the church, and ultimately became so general that public concernments were neglected and private pursuits suspended.

The practical refutation of this preposterous doctrine which the lapse of succeeding ages furnished, at length produced a change of sentiment. And Christians are now, perhaps generally, united in the opinion that the Messiah is yet to reign a thousand years on the earth.

This opinion gives a very different aspect to the present state of things, and furnishes no inconsiderable relief to the dark and dismal picture, which this world would otherwise present. How different still will be the entire view, should it appear in the sequel, that the thousand years of peace, promised to the church, are prophetic years, and denote, not a single millenary, but a vast duration. Cheering hope! And may we safely indulge it? To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not a cording to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

It, that is the seed of the woman, shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. This laconic declaration contains the first intimation of a Redeemer, and the terms suggest that his injury will be trifling, and his triumph complete and glorious— terms which ill comport with the idea that the duration of the reign of his adversary on the earth is to be six times as long as the duration of his own reign.

In the economy of redemption, four thousand years are spent in preparing the way for the introduction of Messiah, the birth of Christ. Two thousand more, in vanquishing his enemies, and fixing the boundaries of his empire—an empire which is to endure but a thousand years ! Satan triumph in this world six thousand years, Jesus Christ one ! Is this consonant to the dictates of reason, or the analogy of providence ? Above all, is it consonant to the word of God ?

The types which prefigure, and the prophecies which foretell the kingdom of righteousness, attach vastness to the idea of its duration—a vastness in comparison with which the intervening ages of sin and sorrow sink to nothing, and are annihilated.

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall Worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the Governor among the nations. For evil doers shall be cut off and those that wait upon the Lord they shall inherit theearth., And when shall evil doers be cut off? The prophet shall answer this question. For yet a LITTLE WHILE and the wicked shall not be, thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. And how long shall the meek inherit the earth? Again the prophet shall answer. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein FOREVER.*[*Psalm xxii. Also Psalm xxxvii ]

The prevalence of the wicked, which has continued from the time of the prophet until the present time, and which has still the appearance of further continuance, in his estimation was a momentary prevalence, a little while. Whereas the subsequent prevalence of the righteous is declared to be abiding forever. The terms here made use of are relative, and if they convey any idea, it is of comparative duration. If then, in the language of the prophet, a little while denotes several thousands of years, forever must denote a period vastly longer.

You will recollect the memorable vision of Daniel, in which an emblematical representation of future events was furnished him. † [ See Dan. vii.]. Unable to comprehend the meaning of the vision, he asks and obtains an explanation. He is told that the four beasts which came up out of the sea, are four kingdoms. That the fourth will be diverse from the rest, and devour the earth. That out of this kingdom ten kings will arise, and. that another will arise after them, exalt himself against the most High, and wear out the saints of the most High, who are given into his hand: and how long are they given into his hand? The answer is subjoined : Until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. But he who gave the explanation adds, The judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion, and the kingdom and dominion, and the great ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the mast High, who shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom. And how long shall they possess the kingdom? Again the answer is subjoined, Forever, even forever and ever* [ Dan. vii.18.]

Here also, the comparative duration of the triumph of the righteous and wicked on the earth is brought into view, and the terms made use of are such as to lead to the same conclusion as in the preceding passages. Indeed if the terms here adopted do not express vast duration, I know of no terms by which this could have been expressed.

The power spoken of in Daniel, into whose hand the saints are delivered, is again spoken of in the revelation of John, and again their sufferings under this power are described. Here also these sufferings are limited to a time, and times, and half a time, or as it is elsewhere expressed to a thousand two hundred and three score days. Whereas the subsequent triumph of the righteous is expressly declared to continue a thousand years.

Could we have any doubt concerning the comparative duration of two periods, expressed in the same book, the one by twelve hundred and sixty days, the other by A THOUSAND YEARS, it should seem that that doubt must vanish when we consider the terms a little while and forever, by which these same periods are also expressed; a little while being clearly explanatory of twelve hundred and sixty days, and forever of a thousand years.

In the language of prophesy, a day is frequently put for a year. Thus we interpret the time, and times, and the dividing of time, which occurs in Daniel. Thus we interpret the forty and two months, which occurs in revelation, and, not to mention other passages, thus we interpret the thousand two hundred and three score days, which also occurs in revelation. And why should we doubt whether the same construction is to be put on a thousand years, used to denote the reign of Jesus Christ; whose reign, if the same interpretation be adopted, which is adopted in determining the reign of his adversary, will continue three hundred and sixty thousand years. Such a kingdom rises as we contemplate it, into an importance which gives meaning to the epithets which the inspired writers apply to it. Such a kingdom may well be said to be an everlasting kingdom, and to endure Forever. And with reference to this kingdom, if such be

its duration, the triumph of the wicked, though continuing for ages, is justly termed short, a little while.

Whether a thousand years, when applied to the reign of Messiah, means precisely three hundred and sixty thousand years, or some vast, though indefinite period, I will not, here attempt to determine. But, however this phrase is interpreted, to me it appears evident, that the scope of prophesy requires that it be so interpreted as to give to his reign a duration, in, comparison with which, all preceding reigns will appear transitory and unimportant.

It is, not improbable that, the Constitution of this world, and the laws by which it is governed, were originally adapted to its final destination, and that instead of being arrested in the beginning of its course, and destroyed in the midst of its glory, it will be spared till the one is finished, and the other departed.

What reason intimates, revelation renders certain. Says David, Of old thou wast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea . all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed. *[ See Psalm cii. Isa. xi Heb. i]

Says Isaiah, Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment.

Says Paul, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands, they shall perish; but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.

The similitude so often repeated in these passages is drawn from a very familiar object, and, concerning the idea which the repetition of it suggests, there can be no doubt. How a garment waxes old, is worn out, and becomes unfit for use, you all know. As doth a garment, so God declares heaven and earth shall wax old. And till they have so waxen old they can not be destroyed. They must first be despoiled of their beauty, marked with the lines, and palsied by the influence of age.

That the present system is not to be eternal, philosophy as well as revelation asserts. Deep in its nature are implanted principles of decay, and the laws which govern it are hastening on its end. The sun is burning out its splendours—subterranean fires are consuming the bowels of the earth; the planets are known, by an examination of ancient eclipses, to be converging; and the sage perceives distinctly in the movements of nature, a constant and solemn advance towards that dreadful catastrophe, of which revelation pre-admonishes the saint.

But though these concessions are made, and tho it is also conceded, as Peter asserts, that great changes have already taken place, it does not appear that those heavens and this earth, which, after the lapse of six thousand years, still display so much magnificence, and shine in so much glory, will, in little more than a thousand years, have grown old as doth a garment, and become unfit for use. Till this, however, shall be the case, this earth will continue the residence of the righteous, who, according to divine promise,. are to dwell in it, in peace, forever—to all generations, even as long as the sun and moon endureth.

What ideas does this article give us of the de-signs of Deity in creation and redemption ! How august appears the character, how complete the victory of Jesus! Where once stood his cross now stands his throne. And the same world which once saw the transitory triumph of his adversary, now sees his own abiding triumph, and pays to his divinity a perpetual homage. This glorious period the death of Christ principally respects. All previous conquests are unimportant. Those subdued by his grace during six thousand. years, will be few compared with the number who shall crown his final triumph.. How great that number will be I dare not even conjecture. But, though I dare not, I love to agitate the question—to recount the hundred and forty and four thousand—to contemplate, and to become absorbed, in that great multitude of the redeemed, from among all nations, a multitude which no man can number.

True; misery will continue, and abiding examples of the consequences of apostacy will forever furnish to the universe an awful memento. But these examples will be comparatively few, and this misery will be comparatively small; and infinitely more than counterbalanced by the superabounding happiness of myriads of myriads without number, and without end, who, entering on a blessed immortality, shall throng the courts., and fill the house of God.

You see, christians, the extent and the perpetuity of the Messiah’s reign—a reign which is to be Introduced

BY HUMAN EXERTIONS.

As in the natural, so in the moral world, visible; and intermediate agents effectuate the designs of

the unseen first cause. The piety, and the prayers of Asa produced in Israel a memorable reformation. Jehoshaphat, inspired by the example of a venerable father, extended and perpetuated the heaven approved work. And when under a succession of guilty princes Judah became corrupted, Jehoiada, the priest, espousing the cause of expiring virtue, rescued from perdition that apostate tribe.

From the Jewish turn your attention to the Christian church, the era of whose commencement was emphatically the era of miracles. Ere an age had elapsed, the reign of Messiah was extended from India to Ethiopia, from Scythia to Britain. And how was it extended? Apostles were ordained, evangelists commissioned, and sent forth the advocates of the cross, conquering, and to conquer. The facts they attested were believed; the opinions they inculcated were adopted, and thousands, in every country, and of every age, recognized the promised Messiah, and paid a willing homage to the son of God.

From this bright period, pass on to that dark and dismal epoch, when authority prevailed against reason, and superstition triumphed over virtue. A glorious reformation is again to be effected: and again illustrious advocates of righteousness are raised up, by whose efforts the kingdom of error is shaken, and by whose light the city of God is made glad, In one word, wherever Christianity hath been extended—in Europe—in Asia—in Africa—it hath been extended through the intervention of human agency.

Late indeed, and with a feeble sound, has the gospel jubilee been published to the wandering native, in these ends of the earth. And yet, even here, the publication has not been vain. From among the savage tribes, which once inhabited these shores, evangelists, commissioned by our pious fathers, won many souls, as the seals of their ministry, and the crown of their rejoicing. These souls were the first fruits of a more abundant and glorious harvest. And if the first fruits have been gathered by the use of means, can it be a question how the residue are to be gathered?— That they are to be gathered, in some way, does not admit of a doubt. I have read you from the records of eternity, the CHARTER of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. A charter that covers all nations, extends over every clime, and comprehends the islands of every sea. That wilderness, inhabited by savages, belongs to Jesus; it is his husbandry, and in spite of Hell, he will one day gather its precious fruits.

Open your eyes, christians, for the fields are already white to harvest. Wherefore double your exertions, and, looking up to God, pray him to send forth labourers into his harvest.

No new method of salvation is to be expected. Converts to christianity, have been made by the exertions of the saints, in time past, and thus will converts be made in time to come. Hence, to the original commission, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, were added those memorable words of Christ, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.—Behold the presence of Jesus accompanies his ambassadors, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. But how shall benighted pagans, call on him, in whom they have not believed And how shall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? And I may add, Who shall send them, if christians will not? Christians, who have tasted the love of God, and felt The power of the world to come.

On this article, no one, who either, knows, the blessings of christianity, or appreciates the worth of souls, can entertain a doubt. Every enterprise tending to meliorate the condition of man, reflects glory on its author. How many individuals have rendered themselves illustrious, and immortal, by deeds of charity. But if benevolence appears divine, when visiting the prisoner’s dungeon, and ministering around the sick man’s couch, how must she appear, when entering, unsolicited, an inhospitable wilderness, enquiring for the habitations of the wretched, and bearing to the unknown sufferers the cup of heavenly consolation.

If to shed on the ignorant the light of science, and restore to the oppressed the joys of liberty, be magnanimous, by what words shall we express their magnanimity, whose zeal pours on the valley of death the light of salvation, and restores to the souls whom satan has enslaved, the privileges of the sons of God?

Christians, can you conceive of any thing more glorious, than extending the blessings of

christianity to those tribes of wretched pagans who dwell upon your borders?

You admit the object glorious: but the difficulties of attaining it discourage you.—What difficulties? Can the ingenuity of statesmen, or the infidelity of christians, suggest difficulties insuperable to GOD? Are there any intricacies in the way which OMNISCIENCE can not trace? Or mountains which OMNIPOTENCE can not sink?

You say the natives are indolent, vicious, abandoned to drunkenness, passionately fond of the pleasures of the chase, impatient of restraint, and utterly averse, not to the purity of the gospel only, but also to the restraints of civilized life.— We admit this statement. They are indeed subjects every way unpromising. But let it be remembered that the dry bones, over which Ezekiel prophesied, were no less so. And yet, these heard and lived. And who knows, but those also may hear and live?

There are always difficulties to be encountered when reformation is the object.. And there always must be, while human nature remains per verse. Do you imagine,, however, that these difficulties excuse you from exertions ?—Had Asa reasoned thus, Israel had not been reclaimed. Had the Apostles reasoned thus, Holland, Germany, and Britain, countries which gave birth to our pious ancestry, had remained, to this day ignorant of the gospel and its benefits. Had the Apostles reasoned thus, you, whom I address as children of the light, and partakers of the liberty of the sons of God, would now have been enveloped in impenetrable darkness, and bound in accursed chains.—And in place of thee, venerable House of God; of you, holy Altars,—Ministers of grace and witnesses of Jesus, with which I am surrounded, mine eyes had beheld a pagan temple, cruel altars, priests stained with blood, and worshipers paying homage unto idols.—But they did not reason thus. No; blessed be God! they did not. And yet their difficulties, in diffusing the knowledge of the Saviour, far exceeded ours.

In proof of this assertion shall I call back the scenes of apostolic sufferings? Shall I retrace those paths covered with the bodies, and stained with the blood, of the witnesses of Jesus? Shall I lead you to the confessor’s dungeon, to the martyr’s stake, and point to fires, and racks, and gibbets,

means of cruelty and instruments of torture till now unknown? In addition to the obstinacy of those whom they sought to christianize, such were the difficulties with which the early friends of the Redeemer struggled.

Both Jews and Gentiles obstructed their course, and counteracted their influence. Emperors persecuted, and princes combined to crush them. But they combined in vain. Their love for Christ was stronger than death, and floods of ungodliness could not quench it. In prison and in exile; on the scaffold, and from the cross, salvation was published, and multitudes were converted.

Such were the exertions, and such the success of the primitive saints. And if our motives were as pure, and our exertions as vigorous, who knows but our success would be as great?

This, however, is not the ground on which I rest the argument. I dare not promise you immediate success. I know that the reign of Messiah will come, because God hath said it. But whether it will come in your day, and be introduced by your exertions, I know not.

Instead, therefore, of encouraging you by such assurances, I propose a consideration of a different kind—a consideration, which must subvert every objection which avarice or infidelity can suggest; it is this:

That to fail after having made sincere endeavours in so good a cause, will be glorious.

Zechariah did not succeed in reforming Israel, but fell between the porch and the altar. He fell, however, covered with glory, and his name stands conspicuous on the list of martyrs. Wicklyff did not succeed in rending the veil of Papal superstition, and yet the attempt added celebrity to his life, and in the bosom of the church embalmed his memory. But why do I mention these instances! Jesus Christ himself did not succeed in his mission to the Jews. But though Israel were not gathered, yet was he glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of all his people.

There are those who exclaim, whenever the salvation of the heathen is proposed, There is a Lion in the way. And were it so, this would not diminish the propriety, nor would even failure mar the glory, of the attempt.

The interposition of the Son of God in behalf of sinners, is the highest act of benevolence that the universe ever saw. Redemption by the cross—how admirable, how passing admiration. Creation assumes fresh loveliness, and the Creator shines in brighter glories wherever it is published. What then must be the glory of its publishers? What their glory who contribute to its publication.

God, from his throne, beholds not a nobler character on his footstool, than the fervent missionary, the man, who inspired with zeal, and burning with love, bids adieu to his friends, abandons his comfort, and his home, braves the perils of the deep, encounters hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and persevering through dangers and deaths proclaims the Saviour to those who know him not.

Yes! venerable messengers of salvation, who preach Christ in deserts, and publish glad tidings on the Islands of distant seas, we admire your zeal.; we emulate your virtue, and by contributing to the object in which you are engaged, would become partakers in your glory; and partakers we shall be if we truly aspire to it.—In the estimation of heaven our services are appreciated, not by the good we accomplish, but the sincerity, the strength, and constancy of our exertions.

Cease then christians to object; act worthy of yourselves, and remember, that they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many unto righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever.

Convinced of your duty, do you ask how, situated at a distance, as you are, you can contribute to the alleviation of pagan misery? How ?

By your prayers. God bath promised that the gentiles shall be gathered in. He is hastening to accomplish what he hath promised, and yet for this will he be enquired of by the house of Israel. Therefore, ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

By your property. To christianize the heathen, as well as to succour your destitute brethren on the frontiers, missionaries must be sent to them; these missionaries will be the channels of your kindness. But missionaries cannot be maintained by prayers; you must give of your property: without this, your prayers will be unavailing Curst be that charity which says to the hungry, be ye fed; to the naked, be ye cloathed, and to pagans, be ye saved, and relieves them not.

Here then I come to the conclusion of this discourse. Your love for Jesus, your concern for souls, is now to be tested by your contribution for their relief.

The Saviour could easily furnish means for this, from his own resources.—He could command the heavens to supply the ambassadors of his grace with bread, and the flinty rock to furnish them with water. But, it is more blessed to give than to receive. This the Saviour knows, and having, in the profusion of his goodness, loaded you with treasure, he condescends to ask, and to receive from you, a part of that treasure: and this he does, not that He needs it, but that you may have an opportunity of likening yourselves to God by the imitation of his sublime munificence, who delights in doing good, and whose tender mercies are over all his works.

In this light I place the subject. And now o my God, what more shall I say? Can the unfeeling heart of man contemplate miseries the most extreme, and not be moved ?—From the hill of Zion, beaming with light, and smiling with life, let me direct your view to the vale of darkness, and the shadow of death.

Yonder are the pagans. Friends of humanity, 0 that I could describe to you !—cold, naked, famished, friendless; roaming the desert, burning with revenge, and thirsting for blood.—

Yonder are the pagans. Friends of Irnmanuel, 0 that I could describe them to you, assembled on the ground of enchantment, practising the delusions of witchcraft, insulting the heavens by the sacrifice of dogs, and paying their impious adorations at the shrines of devils!

From these profane devotions, the hoary warrior retires. His steps totter with age, he reaches the threshold of his hut, and sinks beneath infirmities, on the cold earth, his bed of death. No sympathizing friend partakes in his misery, no filial hand is stretched out for his relief. The wife of his youth has forsaken him,—his daughters are carried captive,—his sons have been slain in battle. Exhausted with sufferings, and weary of life, he turns his eye upon the grave. But the grave to him is dark and silent. Not a whisper of comfort is heard from its caverns, or a beam of light glitters on its gloom.—Here the curtain drops, time ceases, eternity begins: Mighty

God, how awful is the scene which follows! But I dare not attempt to lift the vail that covers it. A moment since, and this immortal soul was within the reach of prayer: now its destiny is fixed, and just, eternal Sovereign! are thy decisions. From that bourn beyond which submission is our only duty, turn again to the living world, where your prayers and exertions may he availing.

Is there a father in this assembly, who, high in the hopes of heaven, brings his infant offspring

to these altars, and places them by faith in the arms of Jesus? I plead in behalf of fathers who have never heard of heaven, and whose offspring have no Saviour.

Is there a mother in this assembly, blessed by the affection of her husband, and solaced by the smiles of her daughters? I plead in behalf of mothers, whose husbands are tyrants, and whose daughters are slaves.

Could I believe, that dead to the stranger’s sufferings, you needed kindred objects to awaken your sympathy, and open your hearts to charity, I would here direct your attention to the frontier settlements, and beseech you by the strength of parental affection, by the tenderness of fraternal love, though deaf to our intreaties for the pagans, at least to hear us in behalf of christians, of your children, your brethren, your kindred with whom you once took sweet counsel, and walked to the house of God in company: but who, now removed far from the pleasant habitations of Zion, without a temple and without an altar, wander in the deserts of Hermon, and pour out their complaints on the hill of Mizar, how amiable are thy tabernacles 0 Lord of hosts. My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out ,for the living God.

But I will not believe that you are dead to the strangers sufferings. I blend therefore the interests of pagans with the interests of your kindred. I add together their miseries, and by the vastness of the amount implore your assistance.

In advocating such a cause, the cause of humanity, the cause of Immanuel, you will pardon my importunity. What am I saying? Would to God I were capable of being as importunate as the cause I advocate demands. 0 that I could infuse into my words, the ardour which I feel. But I can not. Ah ye wretched aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; ye strangers from thc covenants of promise, who have no hope and are without God in the world, my heart melts within me at the recollection of your danger; and my mind fills with motives to charity too big for utterance.

Brethren, have you sufficiently considered the duration of eternity? have you duly appreciated the value of the soul? if not, pause,-- In the name of God, I adjure you, pause, and reflect on both, before you bring your offerings to the altar. The narrow isthmus which intervenes between you and the world of spirits, is already sinking: presently death will have swallowed it up forever! Let your thoughts carry you beyond it; lose yourselves in the immensity of those ages which have no end.—Ages which the soul inherits, and during which its powers encrease, its capacity. of happiness and misery expands, and expands, and expands, till, (overwhelming thought,) it is capable of enjoying the joys, or of suffering the miseries of a world.

Such souls those probationers possess, in whose behalf I now address you. To that eternity, with which your minds are filled, they are hastening.

Before they launch into it, look up to heaven, and see the preparations grace is making, and the glory to which grace is waiting to receive them ; the crown of life—the presence of God in which there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures forever more.

Before they launch into it, look down to hell, and see the punishment with which justice threatens them; take one deep and solemn view of that fire, which is never quenched, and of that worm, in the midst of it, which never dies! Ah me, what a spectacle of woe! venting unavailing cries to a devouring flame, and pouring out vain complaints to an unpitying dungeon; which, when the sufferer asks, How long? echoes back, ETERNITY. Ages heaped on ages intervene; again the sufferer asks, flow long? and again is echoed back, Eternity!

Before they launch into it, go to Calvary, approach the cross, listen to the groans, and fill your minds with the idea of the great Immanuel agonizing on it. Then estimate the value of those souls by the grandeur of the victim slain for their redemption, and having made the estimation, and before you leave the cross, say, will you suffer them to perish through neglect.

Pehaps, by our charities this evening, we shall reclaim some profligate—perhaps we may convert one pagan, and should we one, (my heart burns within me while I make the supposition,) who among us will begrudge the pittance he has given? Let me indulge the thought—a convert made by the charities of this evening—no matter whether an Albion, an Ethiopian, or an Indian—no matter from what ancestry descended, in what rites instructed, or by what principles of vice corrupted; and tell me, 0 believer, what will your emotions be, when entering the world of spirits, and opening your eyes on the redeemed of all nations, you shall see among them, one soul whom your charity hath saved? What will your emotions be, when that soul, first of all, shall fly to your embrace, and welcome your arrival? What, when conducting you to the throne of eternal majesty, and in the presence of that Divinity, which sits upon it, he shall say, "To this man, under thee great Emanuel, am I indebted for this crown of life, which glitters on my head, and this palm of victory, which blossoms in my hand." Moment of unutterable extacy! Angels, could Angels covet, might emulate your bliss, and sigh to become partakers in it.

But great as the joy of this moment is, it is not greater than will be the glory which follows it. To the man who had saved the life of a Roman citizen, was presented the civic Crown, the highest of earthly honours: but of what Insignia shall he be accounted worthy, who has saved a soul from death, and restored a citizen to heaven? 1 cannot answer this interrogation? and I exult at the idea that I cannot; because my inability to give an answer, results from the sublimity of those symbols in which the answer is contained.

But I will not confine my hopes to a single individual. Our charity may do more, it may reclaim many profligates; it may convert many pagans; these may reclaim and convert others, and these again, in their turn, may continue to reclaim and to convert: and thus, the benevolence

of a single christian Assembly, collected from different denominations, but actuated by the spirit of their common Master, may be extended to distant countries, and operate benignly on succeeding generations, till the kingdom of Christ shall come.

This kingdom, christians, is at hand, let us anticipate its glory; let us fill our minds with ideas of its duration and extent; let us endeavour to hasten its approach; let us invite by our charities and our prayers, the Saviour from the skies; let us show that we are willing to receive him on the earth, and, placing on his altar the humble means which we are able to furnish, for advancing his interest, with one general burst of passion, that shall fill the heavens, and reach the place where His Glory dwelleth, let us say, "Come Lord Jesus, come quickly." I pause, not because the subject is exhausted, for it expands and expands as I contemplate it—not because I fear that an auditory of christians can already be weary of such a contemplation; but the delightful duty of charity remains to be performed, and I pause that I may give place to the performance of it.

Brethren, the vast objects which the plan of redeeming love contemplates, are now before you, and you are about to contribute to carry that plan into further execution. Before you cast your gifts into the Treasury, permit me to propose a single interrogatory it is not whether the objects be important? your hearts testify that they are so. Neither is it, how much you now feel as if you could afford to give? but how much, at the day of judgment, standing at the bar of Jesus, eternity spread out before you, the grandeur of the world perished, and not a vestige of all that you once possessed, except the charities you may have laid up in heaven, remaining—then when the loans made unto the poor, for which God became responsible, are repaying—when the poor widow, approaching, receives for her two mites, infinite remuneration, and to the disciple, who gave but a cup of water, because he had no more to give, is awarded an inheritance among the saints—then, when looking back in thought on this evening, which furnished such a glorious opportunity for evincing your love to Jesus, and signalizing yourselves by deeds of charity; how much will you wish that you had given ? To conscience I appeal—to the day of judgment I refer you. Exhibit now the liberality you will then prove, and reprobate now the parsimony you will then condemn.

Yes; in the light of that day, as if earth were already dissolved, the heavens departed, and the judgment seat of Christ erected, let each according to his ability, and with reference to the whole amount, so desirable to raise, make an apportionment.

Let the mechanic say how much of the scanty fruits of his labour, he will consecrate to succour destitute settlements—how much to send missionaries to the pagans. Let the merchant, whose wealth flows from a thousand sources, and whose property floats on distant seas, say how much of the profits of his trade. Let the advocate at the bar, say how much of his fees. Let the minister of the altar say how much of his salary, Let the magistrate say how much of the income of his office. Let the man, whose dwelling has just been consumed, say how much of the remnant of his property, which was raked from the ashes.* [ A few days before the sermon was delivered about thirty buildings were consumed by fire, in Philadelphia, and liberal contributions has just been made for the relief of the sufferers]

And the man, whose dwelling has been preserved when flames encircled and cinders covered it—the man, who hath passed, literally, with his family and fortune through the fire, and it hath not kindled on him, let him say how much of that fortune he will consecrate as a testimony of his charity, and an expression of his faith in God.

Were I addressing an auditory unaccustomed to feel for human misery, whose stinted pity was cruel, and the stream of whose charity congealed as it flowed, after the repeated calls upon your bounty, which have been made the last week, I should despair of success, but I am not addressing such an auditory; though a stranger, I am not ignorant that Philadelphia, like that primitive city whose name it bears, is famed for deeds of mercy. With unutterable emotions, I have visited yonder consecrated grounds, on which stands assylums for the poor, and the wretched—ILUSTRIOUS MONUMENTS, which your charity has erected—monuments, not like the pyramids of Egypt, which cherished a vain, self-glory; not like the temples of Greece, which fostered a cruel superstition, but left at their threshold, the unpitied sufferer to converse with sighs, and tears, and wretchedness, and death.

And can it be that the tender mercies of such an auditory are exhausted? Have you, then nothing more to lend to Jesus Christ: have you no longer any alms to bestow on your suffering brethren, and shall I tell them you have not; shall I recall the missionaries you have sent them, and extinguish the hopes with which your former charities have inspired them ? Shall I pronounce on the savages their doom, shall I say to the pagan, just emerging from the gloom of nature, and directing his steps toward the hill of life,

GO BACK INTO YOUR FOREST, COVER AGAIN YOUR ALTAR WITH VICTIMS, MUTTER YOUR NIGHTLY ORISONS TO THE STARS, AND BE SATISFIED WITH THE VAIN HOPE OF THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE HILLS?

Are these the sentiments of christians—christians, whose hearts have been softened by redeeming love, whose immortal hopes rest on sovereign mercy, and whose unceasing song, through eternal ages will be, grace, rich grace. I was going to add, but the presence of that august personage, whose glory fills the place of our devotions, awes me. Open your eyes christians, and behold God-Emanuel in this Assembly. Redeemer of our souls, who inhabitest eternity, and dwellest in the high and holy place, wherefore art thou present in this temple, made with hands ? " I am present that I may witness the strength of the affection which my redeemed bear me—that I may in person record their charities, in that book of life, where their names already are recorded—characters, which I will publish to the universe at judgement—and reward, through eternity, in heaven."

Motives are now unnecessary—a sense of that divinity which overshadows us, melts every heart to love and swells every breast with mercy.

Go then ,ye collectors for the wretched, receive the alms of a people, already moved with pity, and emulous to excel in deeds of charity.

Almighty God, help us so to act on this occasion as shall meet thine approbation, and to thy name shall be the glory in Christ.—Amen.

PREACHED JULY 22, 1807.

AT THE

OF THE

SENIOR PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

IN NEWARK,

SURVIVING PASTOR OF SAID CHURCH.

1807.

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TO THE CONGREGATION UNDER THE AUTHOR’S PASTORAL CHARGE.

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

[ iv ]

Newark, Aug. 10, 1807.

[ 1 ]

PSALM CXII. 6.

THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE IN EVERLASTING

REMEMBRANCE.

IT is with trembling and distress that I present myself under this awful stroke of the Almighty, to address my afflicted congregation, and to mingle my sorrows with our widowed church. Standing in the place from which our friend has so often addressed us, and oppressed with the sight of these solemn badges of wo, I have no heart to speak. But duty has assigned my task, and I will perform it as well as I can. It is not to utter my own complaints that I have entered this house of God; but to speak a word of comfort to my friends, and to execute the last sad office of respect and love to my departed father.

[ 2 ]

The words which I have read are susceptible of a .double construction, as the term everlasting may be understood either in a limited or an absolute sense. They import either that the righteous man shall long be remembered with affection and reverence on earth, or that he shall be had in eternal remembrance before God and the inhabitants of heaven. Both positions may be supported as general truths; and from the double meaning evidently contained in many maxims, as well as predictions, of the Old Testament, especially in those which are couched in such indefinite terms, we may reasonably presume that both ideas are expressed in these words. We shall therefore dwell a few moments on each.

1. The righteous shall be long remembered with affection and reverence on earth. This

however is true only as a general proposition, which admits of many exceptions. Piety is not the door to fame in the splendid circles of the great. Many of the excellent of the earth have been overlooked in their life, and forgotten in their death. Thousands have given their bodies to the flames to gain a martyr’s crown ;—

" Yet few remember them. They liv'd unknown,

Till persecution dragg’d them into fame,

And chas’d them up to heav’n. Their ashes flew

[ 3 ]

—No marble tells us whither. With their names

No bard embalms and sanctifies his song:

And history, so warm on meaner themes,

Is cold on this. *

Yet notwithstanding this complaint of the poet, one of the wisest observers of human affairs has stated it as a general maxim, that the memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. Men of the world, by their intrepidity in vice and their impenetrable assurance, by the brilliancy and point of their wit, and their arts of address, may attract, while they live, more attention than the truly good; but it is often otherwise when they are dead. The infidel himself, while he praises the living sinner, venerates the departed saint. It is not those who in the circles of profaneness can raise the loudest laugh against the religion of Christ, that posterity will most revere; but the sincere worshippers of God, and the benefactors of mankind. While a thousand titled libertines, who once dazzled the croud with their stars and crescents, now sleep with vulgar dust, with names that have scarcely reached the ear of posterity, a Baxter, a Flavel, a Whitefield, an Edwards, a Tennent, and a Davies, live still in the

[ 4 ]

affections of mankind, and are immortal. It was a saying of a Jewish Rabbi, founded on ancient tradition, "Whoever makes mention either of the just, and does not bless him, or of the wicked, and does not curse him, transgresses a positive precept." However this traditionary precept may fail to be observed towards the living, it is by the common consent of mankind observed towards the dead.

II. The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance before God and the inhabitants of heaven. Ten thousand ages hence, neither their persons nor their works shall be forgotten. The smallest act of charity which they performed, the faintest sigh which they breathed for sin, the feeblest desire which they moved towards God, though long forgotten by themselves, shall then be remembered by Him. T heir pious deeds shall be celebrated in the circles of the redeemed, and among the countless millions of holy angels, when the exploits of an Alexander, a Caesar, and a Bonaparte, shall be forgotten,—or mentioned as we now mention the destructive feats of mischievous children; or rather as we mention the actions of a Cain, a Cataline, or an Arnold. When these heroes shall no longer iii! the trump of fame, and the page of history which transmitted their names to posterity, shall long

[ 5 ]

since have perished in the general conflagration, the conflicts which these Worthies maintained with their own hearts in secret, and the victories which they obtained over themselves, shall make a conspicuous figure in the annals of heaven. Then, an Alexander who faithfully laboured half a century in the gospel of Christ, will have greater fame than the Alexander who conquered Asia.

But with the inhabitants of heaven we leave the fame of the righteous in that world; our business is to preserve their name on earth.—Not only is there a sacred pleasure in perpetuating in this world the memory of the great and good, but it is an essential benefit to society, as it gives continued force to their example, and awes vice by the majesty of their authority. But when one is removed who was not only great and good, but for a long course of years acted a conspicuous part in supporting the interests of literature and the Church, it is due to him, it is due to society, it is due to the Church of Christ, that the memory of his actions should be more circumstantially preserved. Such a one is fallen this day in our Israel :—and believing that the present is a proper time to sketch the outlines of his history and character, I must not detain you longer by abstract remarks, but must enter at once on this mournful task.

[ 6 ]

I am aware that funeral eulogies are prone to degenerate into blind, indiscriminate praise. To avoid the appearance of this evil, I shall be sparing of general encomiums,—content to let the history and character of my departed friend speak for themselves. Fidelity on such occasions does not indeed require us to hunt for imperfections. I shall only be careful that in drawing the picture of his virtues, 1 do not lay on my colours with so lavish a hand as to conceal the features I wish to present. I know the suspicions attached to one supposed to be prejudiced by affection: I shall therefore be cautious what I say. Standing as I do in this scene of death, and by the awful remains of departed greatness, I will hold myself bound as by the solemnity of an oath, and every word shall be true according to my best knowledge and belief.

DOCTOR MACWHORTER was of Scotch extraction. His maternal ancestors were among the first emigrants from Scotland to the North of Ireland; and the family of his father removed to the same country about the time of his father’s birth. By his mother he had the honour of descending from martyrs. Both of her maternal grandparents fell a sacrifice to papal fury, in the great Irish massacre of 1641, whi1e England was convulsed by the civil

[ 7 ]

wars of Charles I.* None of the family survived this horrid scene except her mother, who, at that time an infant, was concealed by her nurse, and preserved from impending death. On so minute a providence did the future existence of this luminary of the Church depend. His immediate parents, Hugh and Jane, lived in the county of Armagh, in the North of Ireland; where his father was for many years a linen merchant, The eldest of their children, whose name was Alexander, was a son of distinguished talents and piety; and being intended for the gospel ministry, spent two years at the university of Edinburgh. At his solicitation, the family removed to America, about the year 1730, and settled in the county of Newcastle, Delaware; where his father became a distinguished farmer, and an elder of the Church, under the pastoral care at first of Mr. Hutchinson, and afterwards of Mr. Rodgers, now Doct. Rodgers of New York. Alexander died before he had completed his studies, leaving a most excellent character: and our future pastor, being born about a month after, bore his brother’s name. But so affected were the family with their recent affliction, that his name was not suffered to

* They were hanged on a tree before their own door.

[ 8 ]

be pronounced in the house for six’ months after his birth.

The second Alexander, the youngest of eleven children, was born July 15, 1734. 0. S. It was his happiness to be blessed with parents eminent for piety, and abundant in their labours to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was their custom to devote the evening of every Lord’s day, among other seasons, to this tender and interesting service ;—a practice which was common among pious parents of that age; would God it were as common now! He remembered, till the day of his death, the tender solicitude of a father who would, often take him alone into the woods, and of a mother who no less frequently would retire with him to a private apartment, to exhort him with tears, and to entreat him by all the anguish of a parent’s heart to be reconciled to God. These faithful admonitions would often awaken him to temporary seriousness and prayer; and though they did not at once produce an abiding effect, they were not lost.

In February, 1748, when he was in his 14th year, he was deprived of his excellent father, who at his death left four children, all of whom were

[ 9 ]

so many proofs of the happy effects of parental faithfulness. They were all communicants in the church, and lived and died agreeably to their profession.* The three eldest being already settled in North Carolina, their mother, in the following autumn, removed into that State, accompanied by Alexander, who left his paternal estate, in Delaware, under the care of a guardian. Here first commenced his permanent religious impressions, under a sermon preached by Mr. John Brown, (one of those evangelical preachers who in that day were called New Lights, †) from Ps. vii. 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready. An arrow of a different nature reached his heart. The horrors of guilt, and the terrors of eternal judgment, from that moment assailed huh, and for near three years filled him with indescribable distress. He used daily to repair to a copse of pines, near his brother’s house,

* The eldest of these was Nancy, married to Alexander Osborne; the second was John; the third was Jane, married to John Brevard. They are all deceased. Some of them lived to advanced age; and their descendants are still numerous in North Carolina.

† Mr. Brown was afterwards a settled minister for many years in Virginia.

[ 10 ]

where he resided; and there, to use in own expressive words, would dash himself on the ground; looking for the earth, to open and swallow him up. Thus the seed of truth, which had been planted by a father’s care, and watered by a mother’s tears was preparing to shoot.

After spending two or three years in Carolina, he took his leave, (and, as it proved, his final leave) of his mother, to pursue his education under the direction of his guardian. * At first he was entered in a private school in a. small hamlet in Delaware, which has since grown to a village by the name of Newark. Thence he was removed to a publick, school at West-Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Finley, afterwards President of the College of New-Jersey. Here the darkness which had long involved him, was dispersed; and he was enabled for the first

* Before his father’s death, Doct. Rodgers, who had taken the charge of the congregation, had remarked the promising talents of this youth, at a time when he and the other children of the neighbourhood were assembled to be catechised by their minister. And now, after his return from Carolina, he received from Doct. Rodgers some affectionate attentions, which laid the foundation of that intimate friendship which ever after subsisted between them.

[ 11 ]

time to rest his soul on Christ, to a degree that gave him confidence, shortly after, to enter into communion with Mr. Finley’s church.

Having continued two years in that school, in May, 1756, being in his 22d year, he joined the junior class in the College which was then in this town. Thus he began his publick career in science in the very place which was destined to be the scene of his future usefulness. The ground on which his youthful feet trod, was reserved to be the resting place of his weary limbs, after the labours of more than half a century.

It was already determined to remove the College to Princeton; on which account President Burr’s pastoral relation to this church had the year before been dissolved. In October of this year the College was removed, and Mr. Macwhorter belonged to the first class which graduated at Princeton. He took his degree in the autumn of 1757, a few days after the lamented death of Mr. Burr.

Having thus completed his academical studies, he was on the point of returning to North Carolina, to take his mother’s counsel in regard to the future course of his life, when he received the afflicting news

[ 12 ]

of her death. This changed his purpose, and he entered upon the study of Divinity, under the instruction of the Rev. William Tennent, the pious and justly celebrated minister of Freehold, in this State.

In August following, (1758,) he was licensed to preach by the presbytery of New Brunswick, which sat at Princeton; and in October was married to Mary Cumming, daughter of Robert Cumming Esq. of Freehold, a respectable merchant, and high sherrif of the county of Monmouth. By this marriage he was introduced into a family connexion with his revered instructor, Mr. Tennent.

Doct. Macwhorter had five children: the eldest was Mary, married to Samuel Beebe, Merchant, now of New-York. She is deceased. The second was Ann, married to the Rev. George Ogilvie; the third was Alexander Cumming, now Counsellor at Law in this town; the fourth was John, who was a Counsellor at Law, and died a few months before his father; the fifth was Hugh Robert, who died in infancy.

[ 13 ]

This congregation, after the dismission of Mr. Burr, fell into a state of unhappy division, which continued near four years; some blaming the Presbytery for removing their pastor; others, their neighbours for consenting to his removal. Certain unpleasant disputes which existed at the same time relative to the parsonage lands, were not calculated to allay the animosity. In the collision of interests and passions, too common on such occasions, the people were long divided between different candidates, until Mr. Macwhorter, on the 28th day of June, 1759, preached his first sermon to them. At once they fixed their eyes on him as the object of their united choice.

Mr. Macwhorter had been appointed by the Synod of New-York and Philadelphia to a mission among his friends in North Carolina; and with that view he was ordained by his Presbytery, at Cranberry,

[ 14 ]

on the 4th day of July. * But Providence had formed other designs concerning him. At that very meeting of Presbytery, commissioners from Newark appeared, and by their solicitations, seconded by the influence of Mr. Tennent, obtained him for a supply. The people were so well satisfied with his ministerial qualifications, that they harmoniously agreed to present him a call, and he was installed the same summer, at the age of 25, within two years after he had graduated.

In the course of his ministry, he bore an. important part in all the leading measures, which, for neat half a century, have been adopted, to promote the order and interest of the Presbyterian Church in United States.

He was among the first subscribers to the Widow’s Fund, which was established in 1761; and in later life, was for many years a director of that benevolent institution.

In 1764, the Synod renewed his appointment to

*Mr. Kirkpatrick, who had been appointed to accompany him, was ordained at the same time.

the mission into North Carolina ;* which gave him an opportunity to revisit his family friends, from whom he had been separated more than 12 years. But this mission came near costing him his life. While in Carolina, he was seized with the bilious fever incident to the climate, which left him with a hectick, [ fever, Willison ed. ] accompanied with expectoration of blood, that for two years threatened to put an early period to his usefulness. Yet in this scene of affliction, it pleased God, in the winter of 1764-5, to encourage him with a revival of religion in his congregation. In the following summer, he received a call from the united congregations of Center and Poplar Tent, in North Carolina; which, though it presented him an opportunity to settle among the children and descendants of his father, he thought it his duty to reject. In 1766, the state of his health became so critical, that he was induced to try the experiment of a Northern journey; and a tour which he made to Boston in the autumn of this year, proved the means of his sudden and complete restoration. From his first settlement in this place, he had been regularly subject to an attack of the pleurisy once

* In this mission, as well as in the one appointed by Congress, afterwards to be mentioned, Mr. Spencer of Trenton was associated with him.

[ 16 ]

or twice a year; but after this return of health, he experienced no recurrence of the disorder as long as he lived. Except a few short periods of illness, and a paralytick affliction in his hands, which he inherited from his father, wand which grew upon him as he advanced in years, he enjoyed vigorous health even to old age.

Soon after his return from Boston, the. congregation in that town, which had three years before became vacant by the death of Mr. Cumming, his brother in-law, proposed to him to take a dismission from his people preparatory to receiving a call from them; as they had consientious scruples about calling a. settled minister. This preliminary step he refused to take, and the business went no further.

In 1772, he was elected a trustee of the College of New-Jersey, [ Princeton, Willison ed.]and continued a very important member of that board till a few months before his death.

The same year commenced the second revival of religion under his ministry, which proved more extensive than the former, and continued about two years. At the close of this period, in 1774, the congregation, under the animating influence of their pastor, engaged with a laudible spirit to erect a new church. A considerable sum was raised for this purpose by subscription, and a quantity of materials was collected ;* but the revolutionary war, which commenced about this time, interrupted the design; and in the confusion which followed for several years, all the materials were lost.

This town, from its central and exposed situation, shared largely in the troubles of the war. Through the whole of that anxious period, Mr. Macwhorter was an active friend of his country, and partook with his afflicted congregation in the hardships and perils of the revolution. This same year, (1775,) he was appointed by Congress to visit that district of North Carolina in which he had been before, to employ his influence to bring over the enemies of the revolution to the American interest. But whatever zeal and abilities were exerted in this enterprise, it issued, agreeably to his prediction to Doct. Franklin, with little success.

In 1776, he was honoured with the degree of

* This design was carried so far, that early in 1775, the trenches were opened for the foundation of the new building.

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Doctor of Divinity by the corporation of Yale CoIlege.

In the following winter, when the American affairs were at the lowest point of depression,—when Washington with a handful of half starved and half naked troops had fled through Jersey, and abandoned the State to the ravages of the British arms, the warm patriotism of our venerable father carried him to the army, encamped on the Pennsylvania shore, opposite to the city of Trenton, to concert with Washington measures for the protection of this State.* And he was on the memorable 26th of December, when the American troops crossing the Delaware, took the Hessians, and turned the tide of the war.

In the summer of 1778, at the solicitation of his friend General Knox, he accepted the chaplainship of his brigade, which lay there with the main army at White Plains. During the few months that he held this station, Washington was frequently his auditor, and he was often Washington’s guest.

* The Rev. Mr. Vanarsdale, of Springfield, feeling the same glow of patriotism, accompanied him in this excursion.

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While he was with the army, he was visited with a severe affliction in his family. In the month of July, Mrs. Macwhorter was struck with lightning, which scorching her head and body very considerably, left her without any symptom of life. Though she recovered her senses in a few hours, she was unable to go abroad till the latter part of the winter, and even then her life was for some time very precarious. From this shock, her constitution which before had been feeble, never recovered. The Doctor did not immediately take leave of the army, but finding at length that his attentions were necessary at home, he was obliged to quit his station, and return to his family.

This affliction also prevented him from noticing, as he otherwise would have done, an application received in the month of June from the congregational church in the city of Charleston, in South Carolina. But his attention was more seriously turned to this subject in the following November, by a regular call from that congregation. On this occasion it was suggested to. him, that the friends of our College had fixed their eyes on him as the future successor of President Witherspoon: but notwithstanding this, his mind still inclined towards Charleston. He had the call under consideration

[ 20 ]

till February but found at last that the state of 1his family, and the Critical situation of Charleston, threatened at that time with an invasion, presented difficulties which it was impossible to surmount.

In the fohlowing summer, (1779,) he received a call from the congregation of Charlotte, Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, accompanied with an invitation from the trustees of Charlotte Academy to accept the presidency of that institution.

This was an infant institution, which promised, under the fostering care of such a President, to become an important seat of learning. It was situated in the midst of his relatives, and in a part of the country where he might hope to be removed from the a1arms of war. His congregation too had become much deranged by the calamities of the revolution, and his salary was deemed insufficient for his support. All these things considered, he judged it to be his duty to accept the call: and his friends in the congregation, under existing circumstances, did not oppose his removal. His pastoral relation to this church was accordingly dissolved; and in October he took his leave of Newark, furnished, by the liberality of his afflicted people, with every article needful for his journey.

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Searcely was he settled in his new abode, when the troubles of the war found him there. The army of Cornwallis, scouring the country, entered Charlotte. The "Doctor with his family fled. Upon his return, he found that he had lost his library and furniture, with almost every thing that he possessed. He remained in Charlotte about a month after this calamity; but apprehending new inroads from the enemy, be quitted the place in the autumn of 1780, and returned to Abington, in Pennsylvania, where he engaged to preach for the winter. The people of Newark, hearing of his misfortunes, and influenced by the mingled emotions of sympathy and respect, invited him to make them a visit. This he did in February, 1781. They soon after sent him a regular call; in consequence of which he returned in April with his family; and though he was never reinstalled, he was considered and acted as the pastor of the congregation till his death.

In the autumn of 1783, just at the close of the war, the trustees of Washington Academy, in Somerset county, Maryland, ignorant that Doct. Macwhorter was permanently settled, offered him the presidency of that institution, ‘ with a salary of £300 a year. But though the principal object of the

[ 22 ]

institution was the education of pious youth for the gospel ministry, and though the neighbouring country opened an extensive field for his ministerial labours, his attachment to a congregation which had recently given him such ingenuous proofs of affection, rendered it impossible for him to accept this invitation.

The termination of the war was an event not less happy for the pastor, than for the congregation. No where was the effect more sensible than in this place, which from that time commenced its rapid growth from a few dispersed ranges of farm-houses, to a large, beautiful, manufacturing town. The following year, (1784,) the long troubles of the pastor and congregation, were succeeded by a glorious revival of religion, which continued for two years. In no period of the Doctor’s ministry, was he observed to be so deeply laden with a sense of ever lasting things, and so ardent in his desire to win souls to Christ. Besides his labours on the Sabbath, he preached several times in the week, and spent a part of almost every day in catechising, exhorting from house to house, or attending religious societies. In this precious season, more than a hundred souls were’ added to the church.

[ 23 ]

This revival led to an important change in the practice. and discipline of the church. One evening in the autumn of 1785, when the Doctor’s mind was deeply impressed with divine things, he expressed to two of his friends, in a private conversation in which he was unusually tender and communicative; his concern for the want of discipline, and the looseness which prevailed in the church; which he attributed to what has been called, the halfway practice. It is still in the recollection of those persons, in what a solemn and indignant manner he deplored this practice, which be averred was contrary to the usage of the primitive church, and the opinion of the best fathers. He had found it here, he said, when he was settled ;—but added with a sigh, how to get rid of it he did not know. He stated the necessity of drawing a line of separation between the clean and the unclean, and proceeded, in a distinct manner, to sketch the plan which he approved; which was precisely the same that the session afterwards sanctioned.

As the subject was in a measure new to his friends, they listened to it not without surprise: but the veneration which they felt for their pastor, and the influence of his opinion, roused them at once to serious attention to this matter. They soon became convinced,

[ 24 ]

and were the means of convincing others. Under the solemn impressions of that period, the practice which the pastor had condemned began to be contemplated in the congregation with increasing concern. Still the hazard of a change was dreaded, and the doubts of some were to be overcome. The more timid apprehended that a departure from long established usage, might lead to contentions and divisions. At length, however, after much inquiry and deliberation, the session, in 1790, took up the subject in earnest. The Doctor publickly advocated the proposed reformation, forcibly alleging that no half-way members can be found in the bible, that there are but two classes of men, and that they who are qualified to offer their children in baptism, are equally fit for the other sacrament The decisive manner in which he treated these topicks, and others less distinctly recollected by the surviving elders, removed every bar;. and it was solemnly and unanimously decided, that from that time, no persons should own the covenant with a view to offer their children in baptism, and to neglect the Lord’s. Supper; and that the examination of candidates for communion, which had been left to the minister only, should in future be conducted before the session. And this has been the practice of the church ever since.

[ 25 ]

While this business was in agitation, the design of erecting a new church, which had been interrupted by the war, was resumed; and met at once with so much encouragement, that in September, 1787, in less than a month after the business was moved, the Doctor had the pleasure of laying the foundation stone; not however on the same lot that had been selected before the war. Urged forward by the influence of some, and encouraged by the liberality of all, he himself obtained by subscription a large proportion of the sum expended on this spacious and elegant building. He went into other congregations to solicit money and materials; and so zealous was he to serve and animate the congregation that, during the following winter, he was daily in the forests, selecting timber which had been given him, and encouraging the workmen. On the first day of January, 1791, the house was opened for publick worship, and was soon after elegantly completed: and it "stands," in the modest language ‘of your benefactor, "as a monument of the generosity and publick spirit of this society." But your language will be: " It stands as a monument of the love and indefatigable exertions of our deceased pastor." And my prayer is, that it may stand as a lasting remembrancer of his many warnings and instructions, which these walls have reflected upon your ears.

[ 26 ]

While the new church was erecting, the Doctor’s attention was called to another subject of a still more important nature. He was one of those great and good men, who, in 1788, had principal influence in settling The Confession of Faith, and framing the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; and in transferring the authority, of the highest judicatory from the Synod to a General Assembly, which met first in May, 1789.—Ten years afterwards, when a board of trustees for the General Assembly was incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, at their session in the winter of 1798- 9, he was named in the charter as one, of the board, and continued to hold this trust, until the growing infirmities of age induced him, in 1803, to resign it.

In 1796, he was blessed with anothher revival of religion in the congregation, by means of which 30 or 40 new members were added to the church. In 1802; the fifth and last revival under his ministry commenced. This continued two years; and in that period, 140 new members, besides those received from other churches, were added to our communion,; of whom 113 were received in the course of 12 months.

In former years, Doct. Macwhorter had been

[ 27 ]

employed by the trustees of our College {Princeton ] to obtain, subscriptions in this town for the benefit of that Seminary: and when by the late disastrous conflagration the College edifice was consumed, they appointed him, in the spring of 1802, to solicit benefactions in New-England, to aid in the erection of a new College. Advanced as he was in years, his .publick spirit would not suffer him to shrink from the task; and in the issue he brought more than 7000 dollars into the College funds. On very many less important occasions, his singular skill, and publick spirit were called forth in a similar way; but these it is neither proper nor possible to enumerate.

My reverend father lived to a good old age. As I have heard him say, he lived to see two worlds die. He trod the path of life with, those who have long since gone to rest. Your fathers knew him; and he helped to fit those for heaven whose aged dust now sleeps in that hallowed ground. He baptised most of you, and will shortly meet those faces at the bar of God which he covered with the sacramental water.—When I have heard him talk of the events of other times, and the well known characters with whom he acted on the publick stage, before I had existence,—and saw him alone

[ 28 ]

amidst a younger race,—I have often contemplated him as a venerable oak which once stood in the midst of the forest :—the ruthless axe of time has laid his companions low; and now he stands alone on the open plain, and every withered lgaf :trembles in the blast. That trunk which seventy winters had in vain assailed, must fall at last, like the companions of his youth. He has fallen,—and is gathered to his fathers! He no longer stands alone in the open plain ;—he is surrounded once more by the companions of, his youth, and stands, we trust, transplanted and renewed among the trees in the paradise of God.

Yes, he lived to a good old age, and saw what changes the current of threescore years will make in a transitory world. In the spring of 1806, at the close of the last General Assembly that he attended, he felt a desire to visit once more the place of his nativity, which he had not seen for more than 40 years. He made an excursion to Newcastle county; and when he arrived on the ground which had often been paced over with his infant steps, he knew it not. Every thing was changed. The information of strangers was necessary to tell him that there his father lived. A cellar, half filled by time, marked the spot where he first drew

[ 29 ]

breath. He could find none that knew him, and but one aged person that ever knew the family. He requested only to be supplied, with a glass from the spring that used to slake his boyish thirst, that he might say, "I have tasted that spring again ;.—and this desire fulfilled, he hastily turned and left the scene forever.

On the evening of the 25th of December last, he received an, injury from a fall, from which he never recovered.. He went to the house of God no more. In the first stages of his illness, he said little which discovered the state of his mind, except the often repeated sentence, It is the Lord, and he does that which is perfectly right. In February, when the dissolution of his aged consort was manifestly approaching, and his own nature was sinking under infirmities, his younger son was taken off by a disease, so rapid in its progress that his parents, though in the neighbourhood, knew not that he was sick till they heard that he was dead. At that awful moment, I visited the father with a trembling heart, expecting to find him overwhelmed with these complicated calamities. But I found him composed and submissive to a degree that told me, I had never known this man of God before. From that time, the submission and piety of his heart shone forth

[ 30 ]

with increased loveliness; his constitutional reserve was in a measure gone, and his conversation often breathed the tenderness and sweetness of gospel humility and comfort. On the 2d day of April, the wife of his youth closed the long scene of her sufferings, with all the interesting tokens of child-like piety. He sustained the shock, as he had done his other afflictions, with submission and patience. He had now nothing to do but to make arrangements for his own approaching dissolution. He sent an affectionate and impressive farewell to his brethren of the Presbytery; he distributed his volumes of sermons among his children, grand-children, and relatives; and gave directions about his funeral. I could never discover in him any solicitude about death, except an anxiety to be gone. I die slow; I never expected to die so slow, he would sometimes say. One day I ventured to suggest to him a hope that he might yet be continued with us, and begged him not to despond. I have no despondency, said he; death and I have long been, intimates. To a hint that I could not do without him, he replied with paternal tenderness, God will give you strength according to your day; only trust in him, and ie will support you under every trial. I never discovered any, impatience in him, except when he was told that he was better, and might possibly recover.

When reminded that he was going to the companions of his youth, he replied with emotion, Yes, there is a precious company of them! 0 what a precious company! When it was suggested that the God whom he had long and faithfully served, would not forsake him in old age, he answered with quickness and apparent uneasiness, that he had no faithfulness of his own to rely on,—that a review of his life afforded him little satisfaction ,—that it had been miserably polluted,—and that his only hope rested on the atonement of Christ. He repeatedly lamented, in strong language, the imperfection of his life, and discarded every hope but that which the gospel affords. I said to him, about three weeks ago, You do not at any time find your prospects clouded?" He replied, No;.blessed be God! I have a steady hope. Always patient, and always composed, he sometimes appeared transported with Pisgah views. A few evenings before his death, he was observed wrestling with God for his release from the flesh. While he lay in the struggles of death, I asked him whether he still enjoyed the light of God’s countenance. He lifted his hands and eyes in a way of strong affirmation. The last word which he uttered, was expressive of a desire that we should unite with him in prayer. A few minutes before he expired, he gave his hands to two of his friends as a farewell token, and expressed by

[ 32 ]

signs a wish to unite with us once more in prayer. As the supplication was making that God would release him; and receive his departing spirit, he extended both of his arms towards heaven at full lengthy seemingly in the transports of faith and desire., It was the last motion that he made. His hands fell and moved no more. That moment the difficulty of his respiration ceased; he appeared perfectly at rest; and in five minutes breathed forth his soul, without a struggle, into the bosom of his God. He expired 37 minutes past 7 o’clock, on Monday evening, the 20th instant, aged 73 years and 5 days.

Thus lived, and thus died Doctor Alexander Macwhorter, after having served this people in the gospel ministry 48 years.

* A church has been established in this town 140 years; during which time eight ministers, besides the one now living, have been installed over it.

1. Mr.— Pierson, having been episcopal1y ordain¹ed in or near Newark, in England, came to this town

with the first settlers, in 1667; and died about the year 1680.

2. Mr. Abraham Pierson, son of the former, was for several years the colleague of his father; after whose

death he continued to be the pastor of the congregation only a few years. He was dismissed, and afterwards settled at Killingworth, in Connecticut. His name is well known as the first President of Yale College.

4. Mr. Jabez Wakeman was installed in 1701, and died in 1704.

8. Doct. Alexander Macwhorter was installed in the summer of 1759. He was dismissed in October,

1779; but returned, and took the charge of the congregation again; which he held till his death.

It is remarkable that all the ministers that were ever settled over this church were dismissed, except the first, and one other who died young.

[ 33 ]

The aspect of Doct. Macwhorter was grave and venerable, and strongly expressive of the properties of his mind. His deportment was affectionate, paternal; and dignified; calculated to inspire respect

[ 34 ]

and dependence, and to repel the approach of presumptuous familiarity: yet in conversation he was pleasant, and often facetious. At a great remove from assumed importance and supercilious airs, which

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never were connected with such a mind as his, he was much of a gentleman, and an uncommon instance of true dignity.

He possessed a powerful and scientifick mind, with a most retentive memory. He was wise and discerning, and had an eye that could penetrate the characters of men, and look through the connexion and consequences of things. His apprehensions were not quick, but unusually just. He possessed little fancy, but a deep and solid judgment. His genius had no uncommon share of vivacity; it held a stately and even course. It had no wings; but it stood like the pillars of the earth. He never would have gathered laurels in the paths of poetry; but he would have filled with superior dignity the seat of justice. His passions, like his understanding, were strong; but ordinarily held by strong restraints. With far less imagination than intellect, he was no enthusiast in any thing. He was never sanguine; but cool, deliberate, and cautious, to a degree that approached even to timidity; inclined rather to contemplate the difficulties of an enterprise, than to calculate on success. Great as he was, he was a man of most unaffected and consummate modesty. It was impossible for a mind thus constructed to he rash. He used to say

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that the second requisite in a minister of the gospel is prudence; and he possessed this virtue, I may say, almost to excess.

The furniture of his mind resembled its construction. He was more thoroughly versed in classical literature than in Belles-Lettres; and loved the Mathematicks better than Milton or Pope. He was a proficient in some of the Oriental languages. He had Looked into the Syriack, had made considerable progress in the Hebrew, and was critically acquainted with the Greek and Latin. He was well furnished with theological and literary science in general. He was a firm supporter of the great doctrines of grace; as his discourses which you have heard from this sacred place, can witness; and as his body of sermons, left among you as a lasting monument of his love; sufficiently attest.

In the former part of his ministry, he was a pungent and popular preacher: and though the ardour of his addresses was necessarily abated by age, his sermons continued to be instructive, and were heard with affection by a people, who in his impaired voice still recognised the accents of a father. His preaching was solid, judicious, and often moving. It was not the transient glare of the comet;

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but the strong and steady light of the sun. He regarded with sovereign contempt the pretty brilliancies and fustian declamation of those who show us how an apostle did not preach.

But he never appeared in his might so perfectly as in a deliberative assembly; especially when his cautious and penetrating mind had leisure to examine well the bearings of the subject. Thoroughly versed in all the forms of presbyterial business, with a skill at management rarely surpassed, he filled a great space in the judicatories of our church. His voice was listened to with profound respect, and the counsels suggested by his superior wisdom, enlightened and swayed our publick bodies.

In the services of the sanctuary, and in all his parochial labours, he added to faithfulness great method and punctuality; and, with a uniformity peculiar to himself, was always the same. He was a distinguished peace-maker; and by his skill in settling disputes, added to his other excellent management, he greatly promoted the harmony and strength of the congregation. A liberal contributor himself to all charitable designs, and possessing a happy talent to awaken the same disposition in others, he was the means of forming a ministerial

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and charitab1e people, as well as a numerous and orthodox church. And though there are, in every place, some, spirits which never can be excited by human influence to generous actions, he probably left as few of this description as can be found in any other congregation equally numerous. He was, I believe, in a great measure, the instrumental cause of the distinguished temporal and spiritual blessings which have been bestowed on the congregation, by keeping alive in them that publick and charitable spirit ,which God delights to honour.

In every point of view, he was a great benefactor of the congregation; and you in return loved and revered him in no common degree. The delicate respect which you paid to him in advanced age, the full support which you continued cheerfully to afford him, when his power to serve you was impaired, and even, after it had totally ceased, and your anxious attentions to him in his last illness, were instances of justice and ingenuousness which you must now review with satisfaction. They were instances of justice and ingenuousness of, which he himself was tenderly sensible. I leave, said he with tears, the kindest and best people that ever minister had.

Yes, you loved and revered him in no common

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degree as your countenances and conduct this day attest. But he is gone! and you will see his face no more! No more will his anxious soul weep you and your children. You must go to him; but he will not return to you.—————Yes, he is gone! He is removed from you !—alas! he is removed from me!" My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! Oh that I might catch his falling mantle, with a portion of his spirit, and be to you, in some degree, what he has been!

The occasion calls for a word of condolence to the bereaved children.

With heartfelt sympathy, my dear friends, I partake of all your sorrows. The extent of your calamity is not hid from me while I consider my own. Few there are that could have lost so much in a single friend: but instead of repining, you have reason to bless God that you had such a friend to lose. You have reason to bless God for sparing him to you so long; and yet more, that he has left you so rich a legacy in his examples and prayers. As Beza said of Calvin, and as Mather said of Flavel; since your father is dead, life will be less sweet, and death less bitter to us. Henceforth there will be less

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to bind our hearts to earth, and more to draw them towards heaven. May the examples of your deceased father be set as beacons to direct your passage to glory. May the counsels of his love long sound in your ears;. and the prayers which his quivering lips pouted forth for you in the midnight hour, come up before the Lord as incense presented by the interceding Angel." Deprived of your earthly parent, I entreat you, a Father in heaven who will never die. To His arms, who delights to be known as the Father of the fatherless, I affectionately commit you; and pray that you may find in Him a Parent, and an everlasting portion.

I turn now to my afflicted congregation.

The awful event which has hung this house with mourning, and covered with grief our widowed church, ought not, and must not pass off, merely with a few sighs and tears. It ought to be, and it must be improved as one of those solemn dispensations of Providence which are intended to rouse a whole people from sleep, to crowd vast ideas through their minds, and to fix lasting impressions on their hearts.

This is the proper time, my beloved hearers, to

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call to mind the instructions which your deceased father imparted to you; the good examples which he set before you.; his manner of coming in and going out among you, for a long course of years; and all the interesting intercourse which you had with him. If you. would give scope to your thoughts, you might recall scenes that would awaken your tenderest affections, and truths that would render you as solemn as eternity. This is the proper time also to consider deeply the business on which God sent his’servant among you; the reception which his heavenly messages met from you; the awful account which you must give of your improvement of them, when you shall meet your minister at the tribunal of Christ; and the influence which his ministry will have on your happiness or misery, ten thousand ages after the funeral of this world.

Know, then, that he was sent among you as an ambassador of heaven, to offer you, in the name of his God, terms of reconciliation. He was not merely your father and friend, but your watchman,—an officer of Christ, whose commission was received from heaven; and whose ministry and its effects have been attentively noticed from the throne of the omniscient God.

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How he execute this commission, God is witness; and you are witnesses against yourselves. Wherefore, I take you to record this day that he is pure from your blood. He opened to you the great doctrines of grace. He taught you the original fall and total depravity of man. He. pressed upon you the absolute necessity-of being born again, by the supernatural operation of the spirit of God. on the heart. While in one, hand he offered you the unsearchable riches of Christ, with the other he pointed the curse of a broken law against every unregenerate sinner. He confined not his Iabours to the pu1pit; but watched those softer moments of speaking which promised him easier access to your hearts. He visited your chambers of sickness, and counselled and prayed by your beds of pain. With his paternal sympathy he soothed your griefs. While he wept for you, he wiped the tear that trembled in your eye. He warned and entreated you in private. He catechised you when you were children; and laboured, by prayers and tears, to imbue your infant minds with the love of Christ. These things he did; and these things are recorded in the rolls of heaven, to be preserved in everlasting remembrance, and to be exhibited on your trial at the last day.

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The doctrines which he taught you he did not in deed seal with his blood; but he gave a confirmation of them in his death no less decisive. They were the truths which supported his soul in his slow approach to the shadow of death. They furnished the whole theme of his religious conversation, and his only comfort in a near view of eternity. Hume* and Voltaire, after spending their lives in disseminating. their pernicious errors, shrunk at last from their own dogmas as from hell itself, and died in the horrors of despair. But your minister, after spending 48 years in preaching the doctrines of grace, left the world, triumphantly reposing on the blessed truths which he had taught. His dying eye said to us; in language not equivocal, " support these precious doctrines, and they will support you." We saw his arms extended towards heaven, with passionate desires to depart, but five minutes before he expired. We saw, after motion had ceased, his still intelligent eye fixed with pity on a weeping child,—looking unutterable things, as though he wished to express: what he discovered in the confines of the eternal world. In that precise

* This fact in regard to Hume is well known to the religious people of Scotland, though much address has been employed to conceal it from the world.

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posture he lay, preaching all his doctrines over again from the very vestibule of heaven, until his eyes closed; —and in one minute he was gone! We had followed him so near the precincts of light, that imagination could almost see him fly and enter in! He had looked back and spoken to us with his eyes, so near the heavenly gate, that we seemed almost to hear his voice, the next moment, among the choir of the redeemed! We seemed almost to see the Companions of his youth pressing forward to embrace and welcome him to glory; and to hear their loud congratulations ! Then it was that I felt the reality of that separate state of conscious being of which he had so often spoken. " There flies that soul," said I, " which but just now spoke out of those swimming eyes! Yonder is my father, whose accents have been so familiar to me, and with whom I went to the house of God in company !"

Yes, while his body lies insensible before you, his soul still lives in a conscious state.—He loved you much; and in the abodes of bliss will, I doubt not, often think of you. Perhaps he may sometimes pass this way, to mark how you improve the instructions which he left among you, and whether you are coming after him to glory. I

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have a strong persuasion that his former family and flock will not be wholly excluded from his present cares. Perhaps he will sometimes visit our assemblies, to hear those truths repeated which he so often preached, and to observe their effects on you. Perhaps he may now be present !—Sainted Spirit! hast thou come to witness our griefs? Do I see thee hovering over our assembly? O! if thou wouldst speak to us now, thy doctrines would no longer be unheeded !——Alas! he speaks no more! His ministry among us is then forever closed, and sealed up to the judgment of the great day. Nothing can be added to it, or taken from it. He has done what he had to do, and has returned to Him that sent him.—But his ministry has not done with us. Think not, that, except tears and tender remembrance, you have nothing more to do with your deceased pastor. As the Lord liyeth, you shall meet him again. When the dissolving heavens shall open, and disclose the Son of man, coming in clouds to judge the world, your father, we trust, will be in His glorious train. And when the convulsions of that day shall burst the dormitories of a thousand generations, his sleeping body will rise! Then, he who baptised you,—he who catechised you,—he who warned and wept over you,—shall stand with you in judgment. Then,

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all the scenes which have passed between you and him shall be examined, and an account taken how you improved his ministry in general, and each sermon in particular. Every hour that you sat under the sound of his voice, shall be found to have been big with life or death. The effects of Improving or resisting his ministry, shall be felt through every hour and moment of eternity !— Oh ! did you consider this while your minister lived? Did you consider this while his agitated soul was pleading ever you? Did you consider this while you were bearing his clay cold body to the house of God? Did you consider, that you were attending one who must be a witness, either for or against you, in the day that shall decide the destinies of all men, and whose ministry must either help you to heaven, or sink you deeper in hell?—I see some of you tremble. But the half has not been told you. If a review of his ministry be so overwhelming at present, what will it be in the day of judgment! If in the land of peace, where in you trust, it has wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of Jordan?

My dear hearers, I ask each of you what account your translated pastor has already given of you in heaven? What had he to relate? What

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improvement have you in fact made of his ministry? Have-you embraced the Lord Jesus Christ through his instrumentality? Or have you rejected all his earnest entreaties? I suppose that the greater part of those who hear me, are either his spiritual children, or they who for years have slighted his invitations.

You who are his spiritual children, have lost a father indeed, and have good reason to remember him more than any other created being. Your case awakens peculiar compassion; for you have lost, (so to speak,) your all, and can never see his like again. For though you have ten thousand-instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers ; for in Christ Jesus he hath begot ten you through the gospel. And though all other men should forget him, by you he will surely be had in everlasting remembrance. Yet let your hearts be cheered with a prospect of enjoying a more perfect union with him in a better world. The seals of his ministry you are, and are reserved to be his crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ. And I doubt not, that after all earthly ties shall have ceased, between you and him will subsist a special and most tender union forever. You shall find all his predictions of good fulfilled: and when your happy souls shall feel their accomplishment,

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" high in salvation and the realms of bliss," then shall you know, to your everlasting joy, that a prophet has been among you.— Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.

Others, I fear, there are, who, though he was to them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, have never accepted the message which he brought them from God. Content with loving the man, and weeping perhaps under his affectionate sermons, they have never repented of their sins, nor bowed to the sceptre of Christ. - Such will yet know, alas! when it is too late, that more than a soother of their ear, that a prophet of the Lord has been among them. When they shall feel the curse which he denounced, forever fastened on their souls, —when every sermon which he preached shall be as a thunderbolt, riving the nerves of their hearts,— then shall they know, to their eternal confusion, that a prophet has been among them. In the regions of hell, equally as in heaven, our father and his ministry shall be had in everlasting remembrance. Oh ! how will they look back to the days when they sat under the melting voice of their minister! --to seasons when tears of compassion choked his words, as he entreated them to have compassion on themselves ! " Ten thousand worlds," they

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will cry, " for one more sermon, for one more prayer, of our ancient minister ! "—but it will be too late.

Are there not some in this assembly, who have lived ten, twenty, or thirty years under his ministry, who are yet unreconciled to God? Are there not some whom he baptised more than forty years ago, who still remain aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel ? Are there not some who can remember the day of his Instalment; who have sat under his calls during the whole course of his ministry; and instead of growing up for heaven, have grown grey in sin, and are now almost ripe for judgment? Almighty God! pierce their hearts with conviction, ere thou smite them with thy curse!

All those who remain uninterested in the blessings of the gospel, at the close of our father’s ministry, 1 adjure, in the name of God, to make a solemn pause. Pause, I beseech you, at this awful crisis. Your minister is gone; and you are not the better for him! He came on God’s errand, he delivered his message, he has done his work, and returned; and you have rejected his ministry! The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and you are not saved!-——Is there then no hope? Yes, blessed be God! one hope remains: set your anxious minds

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to recollect the doctrines which he taught, and the duties which he inculcated; and hasten to believe the one, and practise the other. O! yield, for once, to the voice of anxious friendship! Or, if the accents of your living pastor be unheeded, listen, I conjure you, to that reverend voice which seems to issue from the eternal world,—from a Soul which now has seen the amazing rewards or torments in reserve for you. Methinks I hear him cry, "O my poor, dear people! whom I laboured so long to save; do not let my ministry crush you to the lowest hell !" Heard you not that voice ?—And can you resist it? No, you cannot,—you must not,— you shall not, if prayers or tears can move you. I will deluge you with my griefs; I will kneel and clasp your feet. By the shades of your pious fathers, who also stretch forth their hands to you,— by the bowels of Christ,—hear that voice from heaven, which on earth you disregarded! Ye who have slumbered away an inestimable season, never to be recalled,—days that are now "with the years beyond the flood,"—awake! At this late hour, arise to improve his ministry: that when the radiant Saint shall bend his eye toward the earth, to see whether the seed, sown in this beloved garden, shoots, he may have the joy to see it springing up in your hearts, and not the grief,

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(if grief could be in heaven,) to discover that his labours will prove an eternal curse to those whom he loved. Eternal Mercy! grant that thy servant, like another Sampson, may do more execution in his death, than in his life !

And now, farewell, thou man of God! my father! my friend! Sweet be thy sleep in the tomb! and kind be thy thoughts of us in heaven! Thou hast left me alone, and I am solitary and weak.—— Yes, I am weak and solitary, 0 my friends! Crushed by the weight of so great a charge, I cannot lift up myself. I need and entreat your prayers. I need your candour, your sympathy, your counsel, and your support. Entreat God for me, that I may sustain the weighty charge with prudence, fidelity, and success ;—that, like David, I may go forth, though it be only with a sling and a stone, in the name of the God of the armies of Israel. It comforts me to remember the prayer which Solomon offered in his distress, when left alone by his father to manage the affairs of Israel. He complained that he was as weak and unskilful as a little child. But he asked wisdom of God, and the Lord gave it to him. I will remember this; and I will also press to my bosom the paternal words of my dear departed friend: God will give you strength according to your day;

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only trust in Him, and He will support you under every trial. By the happy accomplishment of this tender prediction, may I also find that a prophet has been among us. Grant it, O my God! through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A

PREACHED AT THE OPENING OF THE

IN ANDOVER,

AND AT THE ORDINATION OF

REV. ELIPHALET PEARSON, LLD.

SEPTEMBER 28th, 1808.

BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY FARRAND, MALLORY, AND CO.

Belcher and Armstrong, Printers.

1808.

This document was scanned from an original printing.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file May 8, 2001.

Willison Editor’s note: The formation of Andover Seminary followed on the heels of Harvard’s appointment of Henry Ware as Hollis Professor of Divinity. Ware, by holding Unitarian views, signaled a radical departure by Harvard from the Puritan theological presuppositions it held for nearly two centuries. The clash of these two contradictory views ( our sermon by Daniel Dana on the Deity of Christ well captures the fervor !) spurred the Trinitarians to establish a new school to this end, and the influence was felt by the Presbyterians, with Princeton Theological Seminary becoming the first fruits of many schools later formed as the country expanded westward.

He is set for the defence of the truth; and must, therefore, be furnished with the necessary weapons of defence. He is to teach others; and, therefore, ought to be able to teach. Without this knowledge he may, indeed, as it is indispensable that he should, be a good man; but he will not be a good teacher. Every one, who hears him, may address to him the humiliating and unanswerable proverb; "Physician, heal thyself."

It is declared by the Jewish Rabbins, and is adopted from them by Lightfoot, that some, at least, of the cities, distributed to the Levites, were universities, devoted to the education of those who belonged to that tribe.

The Prophets were extraordinary Ministers to the people of Israel. It is well known, that they were inspired ; or that the will of God was, from time to time, immediately revealed to them. It is also well known, that they were carefully educated to their profession in schools, consecrated to this purpose. Ramathaim, Zophim, or Tsophim, i. e. the Ramath.s of the Seers, contained the first of these schools, spoken of in the Scriptures. Over this school Samuel presided. Others were afterwards erected in other places ; and were superintended, probably, by Elijah, Elisha, Nathan, Gad, and other Prophets, in their respective times. After the captivity, schools, generally of the same nature, were set up at Babylon, and elsewhere some of which were holden in high repute by the Jewish nation.

These illustrations, if I mistake not, place the importance of an enlightened education to those, who are designed for the Evangelical Ministry, in a light, which nothing can obscure ; and lend to it a sanction, which nothing can lessen.

What is thus unequivocally, and so strongly, enforced by the Scriptures, Reason and Experience urge upon mankind with their united voice. Reason proclaims, that an ignorant teacher is necessarily a mere Empiric, professing to communicate what he does not possess. Experience testifies, that all such Teachers distribute to their hearers chaff instead of wheat ; and that they are so far from being able to furnish food for men, as to be incapable of supplying the milk, which is necessary for babes.

There are, however, many persons in this and other Christian countries, who declare, both in language and conduct, that the desk ought to be yielded tip to the occupancy of Ignorance. While they demand a seven-years-apprenticeship, for the purpose of learning to make a shoe, or an axe; they suppose the system of Providence, together with the numerous; and frequently abstruse, doctrines and precepts, contained in the Scriptures, may be all comprehended without learning, labour, or time. While they insist, equally with others, that their property shall be managed by skilful agents, their judicial causes directed by learned advocates, and their children, when sick, attended by able physicians; they are satisfied to place their Religion, their souls, and their salvation, under the guidance of quackery. Among these people, men become preachers in a moment; and put on the qualifications for the Ministry, as they put on a coat. Multitudes of them can neither speak, nor write, nor even read, English with propriety. They can neither explain, nor understand, the great body o f Scriptural pas sages. They profess themselves to be set for the defence of the truth; and yet know not what the truth is, nor what are the means of defending it. Should the Gospel be attacked by an Infidel; they are unable either to answer his objections, or to tell what are the proofs, on which its authority rests as a Revelation from God. Should the translation of a text be called in question; they could neither explain, nor defend it. Should a geographical, or historical fact be mentioned; or a local custom allude to; it might, so far as they are concerned, as well have been written in Arabic, as in English.

At the same time, men of this character are incapable of the decorum, and dignity, which are indispensable in the desk. By mankind, at large, Religion is primarily seen in its Ministers; and, in the common apprehension; almost necessarily takes the degree of reputation and importance, which it actually sustains, from the manner, in which it is exhibited by them. If Ministers are respectable; Religion will by mankind in general. be respected. If they are grave; it will be regarded with seriousness. If they are intelligent; it will be believed to be a compend of wisdom. If they are refined; it will be supposed actually to refine and purify man. If they are dignified; it will be believed to be noble. If they are pious; it will be acknowledged to be real.

But if, on the contrary, Ministers are contemptible Religion will be despised. If they exhibit levity in their manners; it will be considered as a mere collection of trifles. If they are ignorant; it will be supposed to be a mass of folly. If they are vulgar; it will be regarded, not by superior minds only, but ultimately by the people at large, as a system of grovelling doctrines, and debasing precepts, lowering the character of man to a degree, beneath even his natural degradation. If their deportment exhibits, on the whole, meanness and littleness of character; Religion itself will sink down to their level; and become the subject of disgrace, and the object of scorn and ridicule.

I will not occupy the time of this assembly in refuting, any farther, the miserable shifts, and impious pretensions, by which these men endeavour to support

themselves in this wretched cause. Without a shadow of argument in its favour, it can be embraced only by imposture, ignorance, or enthusiasm; and must always shrink from the touch of sober investigation. That it will continue to engross the attachment, and the labours, of many persons in this and other Christian countries, is certainly to be expected for it must needs be, that offences come; but woe to that man, by whom the offence cometh. All that can be done by the friends of Christianity, towards an effectual resistance against this evil, is to lessen, as far as may be, the influence of those causes, from which it springs; and thus to prevent the existence of their effects. The Institution, whose birth we are this day assembled to celebrate, is designed, peculiarly, to accomplish this valuable end. Its efficacy may in some measure be understood from the following considerations

1st. It is the design of this Institution to furnish students with a sufficient opportunity to prepare themselves for the Ministry of the Gospel.

2dly. A library will be furnished, sufficiently various, and extensive, for the purposes intended.

3dly. Professors will be established in the five great divisions of theological education . Natural Theology, Christian Theology, Sacred Literature, Ecclesiastical history, and the Eloquence of the Desk. To these it may, hereafter, be thought expedient to add a Professor of the Oriental Languages.

In the present case these disadvantages are removed. Men of known reputation are here selected for the purposes of studying, and instructing, severally, each of these great divisions of Theological knowledge: and this to each of them becomes the business of life. They are secluded from all other employments; and encumbered by no other cares, beside those which are universally incident to man. Ample opportunity, therefore, to make extensive acquisitions is here furnished to them all; to arrange into system whatever they acquire; to correct whatever they find erroneous; and to teach with regularity and method the results of their various labours.

At the same time, they will direct with similar regularity that course of reading, which is best suited to a Theological education; demand of their students those exercises, which will render what they read their own; watch attentively their moral and religious deportment; withdraw them from errors; reprove them for faults; warn them of dangers; and endeavour, universally, to increase their knowledge of experimental piety.

It is reasonably believed, that a considerable number of youths will ultimately assemble in this place, for the purpose of obtaining an education for the Ministry; and will naturally be united to each other in the bonds of friendship. All Ministers ought to be friends. To this end, however, some knowledge of each other is no less necessary, than mutual good will. When Ministers are educated separately, and solitarily, this knowledge, in ordinary cases, cannot exist; and, when it actually exists, must often be very imperfect. Here, being educated together, being of the same age, pupils of the same Instructors, tenants of the same buildings, engaged in the same delightful pursuits, and actuated, as we may reasonably hope, by the same spirit, they can hardly fail to be of one accord, and of one mind. The friendships, formed in youth, are peculiarly intimate and endearing. The very phrase, "A friend of my youth," carries with it an image, which few men survey without delightful emotions. The friendships formed here, will, it is believed, spring from the best of all sources; Evangelical Virtue. They will, also, be strongly cemented by oneness of age, education, circumstances, and pursuits. They will, therefore, last through life; will have a powerful influence on the character and conduct; will extend their efficacy over every part of this land; and will effect, in the happiest manner, all the moral and religious interests of its inhabitants.

5thly. The doctrines, which will be taught here, are the doctrines of the REFORMATION.

Finally. A general control over all these subjects in vested in the Boards of Trustees, and Visitors, constituted by the Founders.

These Boards, it is hoped, will feel in a deep and affecting manner the importance of the trust, committed to their hands; and with fervent prayers, Evangelical zeal, and Christian fidelity, labour, unceasingly, to render the Institution, in all respects, extensively and eminently useful. Where so much has been done for so good a purpose; it ought to be hoped, that no beneficial effect of such efforts will fail of being realized by the Church of Christ, either through negligence, or error, on the part of those, to whom the general management of it is entrusted.

We are assembled, my Friends and Brethren, on the birth day of an Institution, consecrated to the service of the Redeemer, and destined to furnish a succession of able and faithful Ministers for the city of our God. Those, to whom the immediate care of it is committed, cannot fail to realize the importance of that solemn office, which they will this day begin to sustain. They will, however, suffer me to assume the, task, not of an Instructor; as unnecessary to them as unsuited to me; but of an affectionate and Christian Monitor, disposed with fraternal good-will to awaken in them, on this interesting occasion, the remembrance of their duty.

When Christ ascended on high, and led captivity Captive ; he gave gifts unto men. Among these gifts, Pastors and Teachers were, after the Apostles, more important than any other. These whose instrumentality the salvation of their fellow-men, in all lands and ages, is chiefly accomplished. These are the pillars, on which, in this world, primarily stands that glorious building, the Church of God. From the faithful labours of these men, as instruments in the hands of the Spirit of God, have been derived the prevalence of the Gospel in the world, the triumphs of the cross, the religion of the East and the West, and the immortal life of millions, who are now united to the general assembly of the first born.

To form, and accomplish, for this sacred, this celestial office, such youths, as spontaneously devote themselves to it, is the design, for which this School of the Prophets is erected. To this noble design, you, my Brethren, are solemnly set apart this day. I feel myself warranted to assert, that you will think no labour, no care, no self-denial, too great. to be cheerfully encountered in this honourable employment.

Equally indispensable is it, that he should believe the truth. Whatever knowledge he may have amassed of this glorious object, whatever acquaintance he may have gained with the Scriptures, it can, obviously, he to ho useful purpose, so far as his Ministry is concerned, or the salvation of his Rock, Unless he also believes the doctrines, which they contain. What he does not believe he will never teach, and they will never hear. The Bible may in the most extensive manner be in his mind; and Plato or Epictetus, Behmen or Swedenborg, Hume or Herbert, may fill his sermons. All his public and private instructions may be made up of the bewildered dreams of enthusiasm, or the frosty morals of heartless philosophy; and be as destitute of Evangelical truth, as barren of hope, and life, as a Nubian desert. Fifty-two times in a year the Sabbath may dawn with the light of heaven, the Sanctuary open the gates of immortality, the assembly of perishing sinners convene, and the Minister ascend the sacred desk; and yet no call of Mercy be heard; no voice of the Redeemer summon them to repentance, and faith, and love; and no invitation of a forgiving God announce to them the tidings of immortal glory. Under such a Teacher, his flock will grope for the wall like the blind, and grope as if they had no eyes; stumble at noon day as in the night; and will be in desolate places as dead men.[ Isaiah 59. 10] Throughout his whole Ministry he will be merely a substitute for a Christian Pastor ; an automaton, in the place, and dress, and business, of a living man.

What must be the feelings of such a Preacher at the great day of account? " Ye," said St. Paul to his own converts in Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica, " are our hope, our joy, and our crown of rejoicing in the day of Christ Jesus." But who shall be the crown, the joy, or .the hope, of such a Preacher as this? When he stands before the final Judge; what must be the subjects of his account? When he confesses, as he will be compelled to confess, that he has preached another Gospel, than that which Paul preached; must he not be withered by the remembrance, that the same Judge has said of every such Preacher, "Let him be anathema ?" What plea will he make for intruding upon the prerogative of JEHOVAH, and substituting for His truth, the contrivances, the whims, the phrenzies, of his own moon-struck mind? What can such a man rehearse before the tremendous bar of God, but wasted talents, a prostituted Ministry, dishonest sermons, and a ruined Congregation? In the mean time, his flock, committed to his charge, that they might obtain salvation under his preaching and now summoned around him to be witnesses .of his condemnation, and of the guilt on which it is founded, must, unless prevented by other means, only share in his ruin. On their salvation such a man can never have spent a thought, nor employed a moment. With what confusion must he now behold them all led by himself into the broad and crooked road, which goes down to the chambers of death? Without an attempt made, or a wish cherished, to feed them with the bread, or gather them into the fold, of life, he has quietly beheld them advance, or has rather taken them by the hand, and walked coolly by their side; to the world of perdition With what feelings must such a Minister, and such a Flock, regard each other at this amazing interview? With what agony must he behold their eternal ruin; and know, that it has been extensively derived from himself? How fearfully must their eyes kindle, and their bosoms burn, with resentment, against the author of injuries, which transcend all limits, and of sufferings, which know neither alleviation nor end?

It is, also, of the last consequence, that the Preacher should feel the truth, which he knows, and believes. A cold Preacher naturally makes a frozen audience. The truths of the Gospel are of such immense import in themselves, that it is difficult for a hearer to believe the Preacher, who utters them with a wind-and-weather indifference, to be in earnest. Should he escape this censure, the sympathy (if I may call it such) of a stagnant countenance, a marbled posture, and a lifeless tongue, will reach every heart in his Congregation; and benumb with a paralytic power all the living, waking energy of the mind. A religious assembly, habitually thus addressed, will soon become a counterpart to one of those silent Congregations, depicted in Eastern tales; over which a Genie has stretched his mysterious wand, and changed them all into living statues an assembly of forms and features merely ; possessed of minds indeed, but minds which have lost the power to act, of eves which cannot see, and ears which cannot hear. A spectator, uninformed of the transmutation which they have undergone, believes them to be human beings. He calls to them; but no voice answers; no eve turns toward him the look of consciousness; no motion, no instinctive impulse, gives the sign of remaining life. Lost in astonishment, he looks around him, to, find in this crowd of images living men and women; but discerns nothing besides silence, solitude, and death. The surrounding walls, mistaken by him for the residence of intelligent beings, are changed, into a vault, entombing the remains of departed man. Amazed, overwhelmed, despairing of any future return of thought, and sense, and life, to these inanimate forms, he throws around the last gaze of horror, sighs, trembles, and retires. Who would willingly be such a Preacher? Who could consent thus to benumb the flock, Whose immortal welfare was committed, to him by the Redeemer? Who, let me further ask, could be the voluntary instrument of educating such Preachers, as these? Who would not think life well spent in educating those of the contrary character?

Trace, my beloved Brethren, now to be solemnly inducted into these Christian professorships, (one of you for a length of time already employed in the Ministry the other still longer devoted to it, and on this occasion to be solemnly consecrated to its official duties;) trace, with me, the high import, and immense utility, of the pastoral function. Take the simplest object, by which it can be illustrated: a single Sinner, making his escape from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty, and final privileges, of the Sons of God. See him humbled in the dust under an overwhelming sense of his guilt, and voluntarily prostrated at the foot of the cross. Emptied of all reliance on his own righteousness, casting an eye of trembling faith towards that of the Redeemer, he becomes a suppliant for mere mercy; and commits his all into the hands of Sovereign love. From this period, light arises to him in the midst of the darkness, by which he was surrounded. Hope, serene, mild, and cheerful, as a morning of Paradise, dawns upon his anxious mind; and a beam of mercy plays around. his broken. heart. The rebel has now bçeome a penitent, and a disciple. The prodigal has fled from the wilderness of famine and despair; and in all his rags and wretchedness is tracing his weary way to the house of his father, the mansion of everlasting peace, abundance and delight. Instinctively, he cries out, at distant sight of this Glorious Being, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants." Angels have renewed their joy, to see an immortal mind, once lost to the divine kingdom found again. The assembly of the first born have beheld with transport an, Intelligent creature, once hopelessly dead, again alive, to live forever. Trace this renewed child of Adam, through the remainder of his, life; struggling, feebly indeed, but faithfully, in the honorable conflict against lust, and sin, and Satan, and through the grace of God struggling with success. Behold him a child of the Highest; a follower of the Lamb; a blessing to himself; and a blessing to mankind; throughout his earthly pilgrimage. Accompany him to his dying bed; a place, to the wicked, curtained with terror, remorse, and agony opening to that melancholy region, which is overspread with the blackness of darkness forever. Here, sustained by an Unseen, Almighty hand, self approved, approved of God, his sou1 ,stands on the awful verge of eternity, serene, collected, superior to alarm, and smiling in conscious safety. At the call of its Maker, awful but delightful, it bids a cheerful adieu to these regions of sin and sorrow; and, stretching its pinions for its final home, wings its flight through the immeasurable vast, directed by an unerring and invisible Guide, to the place of its happy destination. Burst the veil, which hides the unseen world from mortal eyes; and follow this renovated man to the bar of GOD. Listen, while the awful Judge pronounces, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things: I will make thee Ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy LORD." Pursue his entrance into that happy world. See the gates of life open to receive him. Hear the songs of transport and triumph, and survey with humble adoration the smiles of infinite complacency, which welcome his arrival. Behold him begin the immortal career of wisdom, virtue, glory, and felicity; and unceasingly advance from this happy goal in the ascending progress towards perfection. See him day by day brighter, and better, and happier; more lovely in the sight of God; a richer blessing to the universe; a more glorious ornament to the divine kingdom; through ages, which cannot end. Of all these wonderful blessings, and of preventing the evils of endless sin and endless woe; the wretched character, and dreadful reward, of the impenitent; Ministers are the chief instruments in the hand of God. How immense is the evil prevented, on the one hand, and the good achieved on the other? Extend both considerations to hundreds, to thousands, to millions, of immortal beings; and you cannot fail to feel the nature, the importance, the glory, of the pastoral office.

In this solemn and sublime object, of importance literally boundless, you cannot but find motives, which acknowledge no limit, to the vigorous and faithful discharge of your professional duties. To these motives let me add others, to animate you, and all those who have embarked with you in this delightful purpose. Who have given birth to this school of Christ? A small, a very small number of Individuals; who have thus .evangelically testified, that God has not showered wealth upon them in vain. This honourable disposal of property I know not, how sufficiently to commend: while delicacy, perhaps, would on this occasion, forbid me to commend it at a In justice to my own feelings, I cannot avoid saying, that it is property nobly consecrated to GOD, to Christianity, to the salvation of mankind. Nor can I hesitate to believe, that the praise of the Donors is already in a great part of the Churches in this land; or that the children of many generations will rise up, and call them blessed. Can this bright example of love to the souls of men be, for a moment, out of sight to you, or any of your coadjutors in this benevolent design?

What a multitude of crowns have already vanished, how many republics have been wiped away, from the face of the earth? .Look at the kingdoms, which once, like the cedars of Lebannon, exa1ted themselves above all the trees of the field. The strangers, the terrible of the nations have cut them off; and the people of the earth have gone down from their shadow. Look upon their cities, they have been searched with candles. Their goods have become a booty; and their houses a desolation. Look at their Princes and Nob1es. Their Kings have gone into captivity; their Priests and their Princes together. They have called the Noble to the kingdom; but none were there; and their princes have become nothing. Look to their fields, they are whitened with human bones; they are drenched with human blood. Mark the tempest which lowers in the eastern skirt of the heavens. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind-and in the storm; and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry; and drieth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is burnt at his presence: yea, the world and all that dwell therin.

In this terrible day, as in every other, the church of God is the safeguard of mankind; the salt, which keeps this putrid world from absolute corruption. For its safety, its peace; and its prosperity, at all times the first-objects of benevolent exertion, and the most dear to the heart of piety, peculiar efforts are now demanded; efforts, proportioned in their vigour to the greatness of the danger. There is not a single reason for discouragement. The gates of hell cannot prevail. The enemy will, indeed, come in like a flood; but the Spirit of the LORD will as certainly lift up a standard against him.

Such a standard is already lifted up. Gloomy and dreadful as is the aspect of the political horizon, the Christian world has already roused itself from the slumbers of two centuries, and with a spirit of prayer, zeal, and liberality, scarcely exampled, has wafted the Bible to distant nations, and planted missions in the region and shadow of death. In the East and the West, the North and the South, a field so vast, as to leave the utmost stretch of human sight, is already whitening to the harvest. The demand for faithful labourers mocks calculation. "Come over to Macedonia, and help us," is audibly resounded from the four ends of the earth. The savages of the West advance in all their nakedness, sin, and suffering; and exclaim, "When shall the nations, which sit in darkness, behold the light of the Sun of Righteousness? Ethiopia already stretches forth her hands unto GOD, and unto his Church. The nations of the East, and the islands of the sea, already wait for his law. The wilderness, and the cities thereof lift up their voice ; the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: the inhabitants of the rock sing ; they shout from the top of the mountains.

For Zion’s sake, my Brethren, let us, now, not hold our peace ; for Jerusalem’s sake let us give ourselves no rest; until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. On the efforts of the present generation, and on ours, if we are faithful, as truly as on those of others, depend the knowledge, the piety, the salvation, of the generations yet to come. The inheritance of those who are unborn is by the Father of the universe put into the hands of the Christians of this age, to be preserved, and managed. As faithful stewards, let us transmit the divine patrimony, not impaired, but improved. Let them see, that the trust has been faithfully discharged; and enter upon the possession, unimpoverished by the negligence, or fraud, and enriched by the diligence, care, and integrity of those who have gone before them.

The period, my Brethren, is hastening ; the morning star will soon arise, which will usher in that illustrious day, destined to scatter the darkness of this melancholy world, and cover the earth with light and glory; the second birth-day of truth, righteousness, and salvation. Soon shall the Church awake, and put on strength. Soon shall she be clothed with beautiful garments. Soon shall she behold God coming with vengeance, even our God with a recompense, to save her from all her enemies. Soon shall peace be extended to her as a river; and the glory of the Gentiles as a flowing stream. The Jews, provoked to jealousy, and roused from the torpor of eighteen centuries, shall behold a standard lifted up among the nations, and an ensign among the people, summoning them again to the land of their fathers, and to the kingdom of God. Obedient to the divine call, Judah and Ephraim, no more twain, but one, shall hasten from the remotest regions of their dispersion; and the receiving of them be to the world as life from the dead. The heathen, with one immense and united suffrage, shall cast their idols to the moles, and to the bats. Holiness to the LORD shall be written, alike, on all the enjoyments, and all the pursuits, of man. The earth shall become one vast temple of JEHOVAH; and it’s morning and evening incense shall be wafted to heaven by the whole family of Adam.

In effectuating this mighty change, this universal renovation, no miracles will be employed, but miracles of grace. The grace of God, the true alchemic stone, which transmutes the heart of rock into gold, will every where accompany the ordinances of the Gospel, and the Evangelical ministrations of men. Ministers, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, faithful, zealous, wise, and thus fitted to turn many to righteousness, will be the instruments, by which the SPIRIT of truth will accomplish this divine transformation. To form, and furnish, such ministers, therefore, is to contribute to this glorious work; to convey the blessing down to succeeding ages, and to the remote regions of the earth; to awaken the song of transport in lands yet untraversed, and in millions yet unborn; to become benefactors to the nations of the Millenium; and to increase the multitude, the happiness, and the glory, of heaven.

To aid this exalted purpose what labour shall be spared? Whose prayers shall not ascend to God? Whose heart shall not glow with benevolence? Whose arms shall not be strung with vigour to the undertaking. God forbid, that any of those, to whom either the instruction, or the management, of this Seminary is entrusted, should be slothful, negligent, heartless, prayer-less, or unfaithful, in the sacred trust. On this solemn occasion, can we hesitate, my Brethren, to yield ourselves, as a free will offering, unto God? Shall we not, with the spirit of the Psalmist, say to the Church, whose interests, in one important sense, he has committed to our care, "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."

With the same views, with the same affections, must this school of CHRIST be regarded by the inhabitants of this town, and its vicinity. In the midst of you, my Friends and Brethren, the Creator of all things has been pleased to plant this choice vine. Long have you been favoured with peculiar privileges. God has been pleased to raise up in the midst of you a Family, long distinguished above all others, in this land, for its liberality to Learning, and equally devoted to the interests of Religion. * [ The family of Phillips]The blessings, which you have derived from them, added to the innumerable mercies which GOD has poured in upon you from other sources, have made your lot eminently desirable. The infinite Benefactor is now giving you a singular token of his goodness. This plant, we trust, our heavenly Father bath planted. I need not tell you, that it can never flourish in a moral wilderness ; nor that its proper seat is a well watered garden, a fruitful field which the Lord hath planted. Let every thing around it become as Eden. Let your morals, and your communications, be such, as, instead of corrupting, shall improve, and purify, those of the youths, who shall be sent for education to this school of the Prophets. Let the flame of Piety, kindled all around them, warm their hearts with love to God, to their Ministry, and to the salvation of their fellow-men.

With you, with us, all good men, who become acquainted with the nature and design of this Institution, will unite their best wishes, and their fervent prayers, for its prosperity, and for its happy influence on the salvation of mankind. That God may smile, that the dews of heaven may descend, upon it, who, that loves Religion, can fail earnestly to wish, and unceasingly to pray. O thou Father of all mercies, and God of all grace, bow thine heavens, and come down. Delight to dwell here, and command here, from generation to generation, thy peculiar blessing, even life forevermore; through Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, and our Saviour. AMEN,

BY THE REV. JONATHAN FRENCH

.

The consecrating prayer and the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery are perhaps the only rites, essential to this solemn transaction. From the first ages of christianity, however, a solemn charge or exhortation has usually been given to the person ordained. Having, agreeably to antient usage, performed these rites, we now declare you, Dr. ELIPHALET PEARSON, "to be ordained and set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, in whatever part of the vineyard of the LORD the great Head of the Church may occasionally call you to labour." In particular, you are to co-operate with other Professors, in the newly founded THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION, in which, it is contemplated, a Church will in time be gathered and established.

We now, reverend and dear Sir, solemnly exhort you before God, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and his elect Angels, to take heed unto thyself, and to the people of God, to whom you may be called to minister; to feed them with the sincere milk of the word. Shun not to declare the whole counsel of God. Keep nothing back, that may be profitable to them, who shall hear you. Put on the whole armour of GOD. Hold fast the faithful word, that you may be able both to exhort and to convince gainsayers. By manifestation of the Truth endeavour to commend yourself to every mans conscience in the sight of God. In imitation of our divine Master, the meek and humble JESUS, be clothed with humility; and may you enter on the arduous duties of your Office, strengthened with the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. Be sensible of your continual need of divine light and grace. Seek continually the truth of the gospel, and with energy defend and propagate it against the attacks of infidelity, in what font soever it may appear. Be watchful against the numerous errors, which prevail, and are levelled against pure morality, true piety, and the very foundation of unadulterated christianity. Be vigilant, be zealous, remembering that, while men slept, the enemy sowed tares.

Preach the word, not as a man pleaser, but with singleness of heart. Amuse not your hearers with unedifying speculations or questions, which only engender strife. Though, when called to alarm the hardened sinner, you are with the energy of St. Paul, knowing the terrors of the Lord, to persuade men; yet be thou to the returning sinner, like Barnabas, a son of consolation. Assail the hosts of infidelity with the boldness and resolution of Boanerges; but to them, who love our LORD JESUS CHRIST in sincerity, exhibit the mild, the engaging temper and affection of that disciple, who leaned on Jesus’ bosom. In all your discourses remember the momentous consequences of what you deliver, that the word will be a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.

If called to invest others with the sacred office of the ministry, remember the solemn injunction of the Apostle; "lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins." You are now authorized to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper to proper subjects. Wherever you are called to minister, bless the pepple in the name of the LORD.

In managing the discipline of the Church, wherever this may be incumbent on you, regard the rules prescribed, and the examples exhibited, by our divine Saviour and his Apostles. Do nothing by partiality; but, as circumstances may require, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and patience. Do the work of an Evangelist in all things, and make full proof of thy ministry. Often peruse, and strictly observe, the solemn charges, written by inspired men and recorded in the sacred word. Discharge the duties of your office with that meekness, seriousness, and good fidelity, which the gospel requires.

As you and your colleague Professors are to be heads in this new School for raising up of our sons for Prophets, and of our young men for Nazarites; great, very great, will be the weight of duty incumbent on you. The glorious gospel, you are called to teach, was accounted foolishness by the learned Greeks, and is still scornfully termed foolishness by a vain philosophy, and science falsely so called. It becomes you to consecrate your literature and talents to the important purpose of showing that the religion, which the scriptures reveal, is most consistent with true philosophy; a science, which reason approves; and the power of GOD, and the wisdom of God for salvation, to every one, that believeth.

From your known character, age, capacity, erudition, and experience, much will be justly expected of you; the eyes of thousands will be upon you. The eyes of the benevolent Founders and Benefactors of this Institution; the eyes of its Visitors and Trustees, the eyes of the Clergy, the eyes of the friends and of the enemies of religion, will be upon you. Moreover the eyes of the elect Angels, of the blessed JESUS, and the eternal GOD, will be upon you. Impressed with a sense of this high responsibility, be thou faithful unto death; and may the blessing of thousands come upon thee.

From the days of Samuel the prophet Theological Institutions have existed in the world, whose object has been to educate young men, of competent talents and piety, for the sacred work of instructing their fellow men in the doctrines and duties of the true Religion.

Perceiving the qualifications and gifts with which the grace of GOD hath furnished you, for preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ, and for training up young men for the like office; the Council, convened for your ordination, have directed me; in their name, to give you the Right Hand of Fellowship. Take, therefore, my Brother, this right hand. Receive it as a symbol of our personal friendship. Receive it also, and especially, as our acknowledgment that you sustain, equally with us who are ordained to preach the gospel, the office of a minister of Jesus Christ; and that you are invested with all the privileges and authority belonging to the sacred function. By this friendly token we bid you welcome, as a fellow labourer in the vineyard of our common LORD. We doubt not, that you will cheerfully reciprocate all Christian acts of kindness and assistance, which are appropriate to this honourable office.

We have witnessed the diligence and ability, with which you have discharged arduous and complicated duties, belonging to the respectable stations, which you have already filled. This furnishes a satisfying pledge of your future fidelity in the still more important offices, which you now sustain.

We rejoice that God, in his wise and good Providence, has assigned this favoured spot, as the place of your residence, and honoured you as one of the principal agents in founding this School of the prophets. May the Church, which is to be here established and placed under the joint care of the Professors, become as a well watered, skilfully cultivated, and plentifully furnished, nursery for our American Churches; from whence shall be successively transplanted Trees of Righteousness; Plants of renown, which shall flourish and bear abundance of the fruits of holiness, in the courts of our God.

May you, dear Sir, your fellow Professors, and your pupils; may the Trustees and Visitors of this Institution, and its venerable and respected Founders, continually enjoy the presence, direction, and blessing of the great Head of the Church.

Were the departed spirits of those Worthies, who in their heaven-inspired wisdom and pious charities, in the name of JEHOVAH, laid broad the foundation, of this literary and religious Seminary, and consecrated it to His honour ; —were the venerable spirits of these men now present with us, (and who can say they are not) and witnesses of the transactions of this day; doubtless they would mingle their praises with ours, to the God of heaven and of earth. Most cordially would they join their prayers with ours to Him, in whom dwelleth all fulness of grace, that blessings in abundance may be poured down from above, on this hitherto prospered Institution, that so its increasing influence may be purifying and healthful to the Churches of Christ; be deeply and happily felt in every part of our land, and endure, as the Sun and the Moon, forever and ever. AMEN.

A S e r m o n, & c.

Revelation, 18: 4.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying; Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

As a kind parent warns his children of approaching danger; so God warns his people to secure themselves from divine judgements. As a faithful centinel descries danger, and alarms the camp: so God calls upon the armies of his people to be prepared for the day of sorrow. Dangers are to be marked with the brightest sun-beams of heaven. The errors and delusions of the world are therefore only proofs, that the heart is perverse, that the fountain of action is corrupted. If men are blind, it is merely because they will not see. If they proceed in a wrong course, it is merely because they are averse from good. The commands and threatenings of God’s word proceed on the ground that men have sufficient light and knowledge. In the text therefore God says, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." A false church, a community of hypocrites, a class of sinners, are supposed to be so malignant, so contagious, that their society is dangerous and fatal. They, who do not separate, will indubitably partake in her sins and suffer her judgements. The companions of these fools shall be destroyed with them.

1. Who are they from whom those must separate, whom God

calls his people ?

2. What is implied in separating from them ?
3. What are those judgements or " plagues. " which those will endure, who disregard this warning.

1. We are to describe the power from whom the people of God must separate.

To give a full length portrait would require a volume ; we have time to sketch only a few of the coarse and prominent features. In Rev. 13^th chap. This anti-christian community is represented as " a beast ." Their friends exclaimed in admiration, or in the strong stile of Eastern language, they " worshipped the beast," saying, " Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with the beast? " They pride themselves in his invincible prowess and valor, they boast that he is invulnerable.

We ask all, even those, who are the least acquainted with the present state of the world, whether ye do not know such a power? Do ye not daily hear of this power ? Is it not the admiration and pride of many and the dread of more ? Who, where, is the greatest military power in the world ? Whose name alone is more terrible than armies ? Whose threats now terrify nations, and appall the hearts of Rulers ? Whose word, before his legions appear, drives kings from their thrones, their capital, their country ?Whose terrific voice is heard across the Atlantic ? Whose voice overawes our great men and mighty men, spreads consternation through their country, closes our harbors, chains our ships to the dry land, bids our mariners beg their bread, our fishermen and husbandmen labor in vain ? As the magicians of Egypt covered the land with serpents, and frogs, and plagues; so this angel of divine wrath, this sorcerer of the world, covers the nations with the shadow of death, " and men blaspheme God, because of their plagues."

This Power, which in Revelation is called "a beast" is in Daniel represented by "a little horn." In Rev. 13: 5, "there was given unto the beast a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against the most high, and wears out the saints of the most high, and thinks to change times and laws." Do not our children know where this description applies? No event in the world, excepting in one nation, correspond with this description. In one nation the resemblance is astonishingly exact. This impious, infidel power speaks "great things against God, and blasphemies." For years what has been the language of France, respecting God and divine things ? Their Legislature have published a discourse in which they declare, "Man wants no Divinity, but himself. Reason dethrones the kings of the earth, and the King of heaven. No monarchy above, if we wish to preserve our republic below. If you admit the existence of heavenly Sovereign, what you adore by day will be your destruction by night."

By not disapproving this act of government, this blasphemy is the blasphemy of the nation, and of all, who unite with them. This same power is in the habit of "great words." There is the essence of practical blasphemy. The same Power "changes times and laws:’ they change the sabbath; instead of a sabbath of holy promise one day in seven; they establish a gay festival one day in ten. They "change laws." Without fleets or seamen, with a single "imperial decree," they blockade the harbors of a commercial world. The students of a public school are introduced to the Legislature. In his address one of the pupils says, "I and my companions detest a God." The nation received this with applause. Does not this Power "speak great words against the Most High ?"

St. Paul draws this Power in more vivid and distinct colors. "In the last days perilous times shall come: for men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, without natural affection, truce—breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those who are good, traitors, heady, high—minded, having a form of godliness, but denying the power." (2 Tim. 3). "Boasters" they are. Did ever a nation show such a "proud," boastful, overbearing spirit towards other nations ? Their blasphemies need not be mentioned again. They are "without natural affection." (See Payson’s Modern Anti-Christ). It has been a favorite object of organized societies and volumes have written, to prove that man is a cosmopolite, a citizen of the world, that he has no appropriate duties as a subject, a citizen, or the father of a family. They are "Truce-breakers." The ruling power of Europe observes treaties no further than interest, convenience, and ambition, require. At the present moment our country is suffering, our prosperity is sinking, and our ships are blazing in violation of solemn treaties. "False accusers" they are. Of their own best people, millions have been beheaded, and drowned, and butchered by false accusations. (See Residence in France. Kett, Clergy’s Journal, &c.) The history of the world does not present a more astonishing example of falsehood, of blood, and barbarism. St. Paul declares them "incontinent" or unchaste. Their passing history declares the same, that they have virtually abrogated the ordinance of marriage by the facility of divorces. How literally, how precisely they answer the description of Anti-Christ you may learn, if I can persuade myself to recite a decree of the nation in 1794. "It is there declared that there is nothing criminal in the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes." Forgive me this freedom. It is of infinite importance that you know the enemy from whom you must separate. We need no additional facts to illustrate the fierceness of this power. "Fierce" she is, "as ten furies and terrible as hell." Her fury is consuming the nations of Europe. By St. Paul they are called "Traitors." This single word remarkably distinguishes this power. The reigning power was built on the ruins of the consular government: the consular government was built on the ruins of the republic; the republic rose from the ashes of the monarchy. Insurrection and rebellion after rebellion; perjury after perjury, and treason after treason, produced the present stupendous power of the empire. Surely no power was ever more justly branded with the name of "Traitor." The prophet of Tarsus distinguishes this empire by its "having the form of godliness, but denying the power." The mighty Colossus, which tramples on the powers of the European continent, has established the false religion of Rome, as a political engine, having no more reverence for this religion , than for the delusions of Mahomet, or the superstitions of paganism. When in a Mahometan country, he declares himself a believer in Mahomet, and boasts that he has destroyed the religion of Christ in Europe. Since the world begun there never has been a more remarkable, more notorious instance of a people, having the form of godliness and denying the power.

By this time no reflecting mind can be at a loss, who those are from whom we are commanded "to come out." Still more witnesses press to be heard. From the caverns of Patmos, St. John ( Chap. 13.) declares, this "Beast causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, bond and free, to receive a mark," or token of their respect for him; in a sovereign manner he considers them on his side, as his servants. (See a late communication from our Minister at the Court of France.) He "decrees" that " no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark," or token of subjection to him. Observe, he " caused;" a very general word. He has not fleets to compel; but partly by force, partly by imperial decrees, and partly by ‘diplomatic skill," he "causes" the traffic of the nations to suffer. The hum of business is silent; commercial fleets no longer whiten every sea. Individual cities have, before, lost their commerce; the commerce of a nation has been for a short time suspended; the Pope has sometimes controlled the commerce of the church; but this is the era in which we hear a voice forbidding "all men," excepting the vassals of the "Beast" "to buy or sell". (Footnote: Our vessels are now detained in France, that they may ascertain whether we will unite with her, and receive the mark of the beast. Then it is intimated we may "buy and sell." See communications from our minister in France. ) As it was with the city of Tyre, so it is now with all our commercial cities. "And all that handle the oar, the mariners and the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly; and cast dust upon their heads, and wallow themselves in ashes." Every day and hour make the picture plainer and plainer. Do not the friends of this power daily boast that no King nor Emperor can resist his force, that he can subdue the frozen Russians, and triumph in the spicy groves of India. So Revelation says, "Power was given the beast over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. Where his arms cannot reach, the influence of his agents prevails from the Baltic to the Archipelago, from Constantinople to Washington.

2. What is implied in "coming out" from this tremendous power ?

1. We must come out from them in heart and spirit.

The words of the address are worthy of notice. "Come out, my people;" my people of every country, nation and language; in every city, village, and family of the world. As this Anti-Christian power first rose out of the church, and is in itself an apostate church, her poison may be expected wherever God has a people; wherever there is a wreck, or remnant, or name of a church; because where true believers are, where the wheat is, there is the chaff and the tares. This Hydra walks in darkness, and like pestilence and death is everywhere. We may, possibly, find the serpents in our most sacred connexions, in the church, in our families. The husband of a pious wife; the child of a pious parent, may be a limb of the "beast." "Come out from them, my people, in all the vast dominions of this mighty usurpation, saith the Lord, as far as may be consistent with other positive and sacred obligations. Families need not separate, nor subjects leave their country nor government; yet they may in heart and spirit come out from them; they may abhor their principles, detest their designs, and as far as possible, counteract their fatal measures.

2. We must separate from them by incessantly praying against their malignant influence. A large portion of the civilized world is divided into two great sections. Whatever may be the character of each individual in either section, the general tendency of one is to support, of the other to destroy the cause of Jesus Christ. It is our duty to pray that these may be disappointed in their designs against the cause of the Redeemer; it is our duty to pray like the Psalmist, "Grant not the desire of these wicked men." Prayer is a duty, tho’ the friends of Anti-Christ point the finger of scorn. In answer to prayer, seas have divided their billows, rivers stopped in their course; the sun and moon stood still; how much more will God hear us, when we pray against bold blasphemers.

1. Of course, in no instance can we "bid them God speed." or rejoice in their success.

If in the most secret manner we rejoice at their success; if we breathe a congratulation in our hearts; we then approve their character; we partake in their sins; we must receive their plagues. To rejoice in iniquity is ourselves to be guilty.

2. To come out from this power, we must resist his influence by all lawful means.

Here opens a wide field, which cannot be thoroughly explored. Personal circumstances, the state of society, the events of the moment, must direct every man to his post, and the part he is to perform. Arguments, exhortations, petitions, and entreaties; a most firm use of our privilege of suffrage; all may be powerful means to repel the force, and bridle the ferocity of the beast with whom we contend. For parents to instruct their children in sound principles; for the rich to encourage the poor, who are honest, in preference of those who are the base slaves of slaves; for ministers to instruct their people concerning the real state of the church and the world, may powerfully resist this gangrene of moral death. The most wanton government is to be resisted only in a lawful manner. Nero and Napoleon, kings and presidents, while on the throne, must be obeyed. We must obey them for the Lord’s sake. We honor their office, tho’ we resist their dangerous influence. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, " Come out from among them, my people, that ye partake not in her sins, and receive not her plagues."

1. What plagues or judgements will those endure, who do not separate from this Anti-Christian power.

1. They shall imbibe her spirit, assume her character.

They shall receive her plagues; the same, which she endures herself. This is the plagues of all plagues. Rather let famine, war and pestilence, arrest us, than the malignant, contagious spirit of Anti-Christ. What this spirit is you have in part just heard, and may better learn from a thousand sources daily opening before you.

Infidelity is a prominent feature of the haggard countenance we are examining. The ruling power of Europe has long been determined to pull up religion by the roots, to cast this tree of Paradise into the fire of their vengeance. They have determined to destroy the means of its existence. Not a pastor shall be allowed to feed the sheep or the lambs of Christ’s flock. In proof of this we inform you from French papers, which for once we believe are correct: That in the time when more than one hundred ministers of religion has died, only four had been ordained to supply their places. It appears also that in a country where there were five thousand vacancies, not fifty candidates were known to supply them. The salaries allowed are denominated starving jokes, and supposed to be directed by the government to destroy christianity by destroying her ministers. They are compelled to engage in other callings to support themselves. So penurious is their reward; so abject, so miserable, their situation. The people are so poisoned with infidelity; they are so hardened by the spirit of Anti-Christ, that they refuse to pay the smallest tax to support a seminary for clerical education. So few are the churches, supplied with pastors, that those hungry for the bread of life, and thirsting for the waters of salvation, are obliged to travel forty, fifty and sixty miles to find a place where a minister officiates. Two million Protestants in France are in this deplorable situation, almost twice as many as all the inhabitants of New-England.

But our object is in view. The command is, "Come out of her, my people, that ye receive not of her plagues." One of the plagues of these self-destroyers is to be like this power to whom they adhere. In order to ascertain what this is, we have been so particular. She is rampired round with infidelity, and daring impiety. She despises the ordinances, the churches, the christian ministry. Her language is, "where is the promise of his coming?" "The doctrines of ministers and christians are idle dreams."

Sometimes God gives up the wicked to commit sin with all greediness, as a part of their punishment for other sins; he withdraws his Holy Spirit, and they believe a lie, that they may be dammed. So those, who will not come out from Anti-Christ, are left to become like Anti-Christ.

We drop speculating on the subject, and appeal to facts, to facts of which you are all the best judges. Is it then, or is it not, a solemn fact, as far as morals can discern, or as far as your acquaintance extends, that those who do not come out from this infidel power, do possess a great degree of her spirit ? Observe the most respectable of this description. You are pleased with their address; you respect their talents; you honor their profound science; but you wishfully and anxiously inquire for somewhat that will mark a character opposite to Anti-Christ. Again you ask, you inquire, you look; but do you ever see them shudder at the emormities and horrors of French infidelity ? Do you ever hear them lament the irreligion, the impiety, the barbarism, the oppressions and slaughters of blasphemous Anti-Christ ? Do they not make a multitude of excuses and apologies; do they not fill their mouth with arguments to justify her ? Do they not harmonize with Anti-Christ ? Who are they, that are little hurt, and readily connive at the most open contempt of divine things, at ridicule cast on the doctrine of the deluge, the volume of revelation itself, and the gospel ministry ? Need we name them? Who are they, who in general display in a great degree the spirit of Anti-Christ himself ? "Do ye not know them by these tokens ?" They have begun to receive the plagues mentioned in the text. Let the devout spirit exclaim, "Oh my soul, come not thou into their secret; mine honor, be not thou joined with them."

2. Another plague of Anti-Christ is to endure the

greatest political oppression and servitude.

The people of that devoted country, to which we have constant reference, are broken by the hand of oppression; they are crushed by the iron foot of a tyrant. Even liberty of speech is denied; a large proportion of the inhabitants are spies, in the pay of the government, to catch the words of their neighbors, their companions, their friends. No man dares to make remarks on the measures of government, lest a spy should complain, and his life pay for his words. A paper in this state has lately intimated, that it may soon be "political suicide" to animadvert on the conduct of the administration; the expression of opinion has been represented as treason. Tho’ we find it difficult to conceive that such arrogance exists; yet it is too probable we may soon feel the sword of such a law in our own vitals. Then those persons, so zealous now to pull these calamities on our heads, will be equal sufferers; then will they execrate their union with anti-christian darkness; then will they not be allowed the privilege of the Egyptians to raise a great cry, when there is one dead in every house.

The contributions levied, the taxes imposed on the "allies" of France, exceed description, and baffle calculation. A late traveller mentions, that in Lombardy the inhabitants pay one half their annual income to the French government. Would the time permit, we might travel all over Europe, and find occasion for similar remarks. Prussia is suffering inexpressible distress; the people are fainting with their burdens, and mad with despair. In Germany, war, disease and famine have overwhelmed the inhabitants. In scarcity of bread, they have been compelled to feed on grass. (See Panoplift, Vol.1.) So deplorable is their situation, that great sums have been raised in England for their relief. Genoa, saith the Marquis Salvo, is stripped of its property, driven to the last state of wretchedness, her commerce completely annihilated. From Hanover and other parts of Germany, the inhabitants are flying into Austria, and are even there refused the protection of the government. Does not this indicate the4 lowest state of misery ! Portugal has paid tribute till she could pay no longer. When her circulating medium was exhausted, she plundered her own churches of their plate and ornaments to appease the insatiable tyrant. (Letter from Lisbon.) Nor would this suffice; his armies now occupy the country, live upon the inhabitants; famine and misery follow. The king and royal family have fled to America. Switzerland is compared to the skin of a beast, offered in sacrifice. She has been robbed, and plundered, and ruined, by the terrible republic. Like the skin of a victim deprived of its body and its life, its bones and marrow, they are trodden under the feet of their masters. Her racks, demagogues and ruins, are all that remain. Those plagues, like an overwhelming deluge, are rushing on all nations, who do not come out from this mighty power.

3. Everlasting destruction is the portion of Anti-Christ, and all

who do not separate from him.

Rev. 14^th chap. And the third angel followed, saying, with a loud voice, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark," become his friend or agent, "the same shall drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured forth without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast or his image," or are friendly to this Infidel power, "or receiveth the mark of his name," or becometh subject to his influence.

Chap. 19. Aftere these things I heard another voice of much people in heaven saying, "Alleluia," and again they said, "Alleluia," and her smoke rose up forever and ever, and the four and twenty Elders worshipped God, saying, "Amen; Alleluia."

IMPROVEMENT.

One interesting reflection forces itself upon our attention, it has doubtless been made by every hearer, this Commonwealth and the country must detach themselves from Anti-Christ or be destroyed.

Has not this Commonwealth and the United States, once and again elected those Legislators whom they intended should be friendly, and partial to the interests of Anti-Christ ? Those, who unite and coalesce with her, will inevitably fall ; those, who daringly resist her, will ride out the storm, which now shakes the foundations of the world. If Sweden and Great- Britain make peace, and form an alliance with their foe, that moment, are they like Sampson in the lap of the harlot, exposed to have their locks shorn, their eyes torn out, to lose their liberty and their existence.

That these opinions will be treated with contempt and scorn, it may be expected; the children of Lot ridiculed his story of fire from heaven; doubtless the Anti-deluvians derided Noah for his ship, his navagation, and his tale of a universal deluge. One great infelicity of ridicule and contempt is, they have never been found a secure defence against the judgements of God. With all their sport Sodom was burned; the world was drowned. Had I a voice to be heard from Maine to Georgia, gladly would I meet the torrent of sarcasms, which, like the foam of Niagara, might burst forth, for their privilege of commenting on the text, and most affectionately warning the people. It is, it is a day of darkness and rebuke. Never was there a louder call for a day of humiliation and prayer. Never was a greater deliverance to be prayed for, deliverance from the plagues of Ant-Christ.

The sparks, which will inevitably consume us unless we repent are already kindled. The clouds, charged with the thunders of desolation, are spreading their dark shadows over the land. That oppression, that infidelity, that impiety, which are plagues of Anti-Christ, are already visible, and good men tremble. A deplorable evil it is to be4long to a community, devoted to ruin, yet God sometimes delivers those, not guilty of procuring the judgements; but he is under no obligation to do this. The personal sins of the best men would justify Providence in punishing them with his enemies. As a nation we sin, and as a nation we may be destroyed. Yet may we pray for deliverance in the day of wrath. When Jerusalem was sacked by Titus, the christians, being warned by Christ, fled from the city, and escaped the undescribable horrors of the siege. When Rome was taken by Alarc the Goth, Honorius, and other christians, were secure in Ravenna.

Leaving it to every one to make a more formal application for himself, we beg your patience a moment, while we sincerely and tenderly entreat you, not to consider this a party discourse, or an effusion of the moment. No. These hasty hints are well founded; they are the words of truth and soberness. They are supported by existing events, as well as the word of God. A man must be blind to the history of recent events, as well as dead to christian faith to controvert these opinions. The Preacher begs you to consider this as a plain, practical discourse; the duties, as important as can be recommended. Those, who trifle with these warnings, he views in a situation more alarming than the murderer. The murderer finds no one to justify him; he hears a thousand reproofs, and is alarmed; but in your friendship to Anti-Christ, more than half the nation justify the deed of impiety, hand joins in hand, and a covenant with hell is confirmed. But do remember, that whatever else you doubt, or deny, the text is the word of God; the text refers to Anti-Christ; not to know, who is Anti-Christ, must argue gross ignorance of the bible, and the world. Be so kind, so merciful to yourselves, as to remember, the text implies that, our ruin or salvation depends on our conduct towards this Infidel power, which is covering the world with darkness. Our prosperity and our destruction are before us. The choice is ours. If you believe the word of God; if you only attend to passing events, it will be easy to decide on this important subject.

Only look at the nations of Europe. Which of them have suffered most; which of them have suffered the least by that Power, who makes the earth drunk with blood ? It is a truth recorded in every page of passing events, that those nations have suffered most, who have been most friendly to this Anti-Christian Power, who have lent their assistance, and courted her favor. It is a glorious truth that those have suffered the least, who have unfurled the banner of defiance, and waged incessant war with Anti-Christ, and all his mercenary legions.

Spain has been the friend and ally of this gigantic power, supported her measures, and been the instrument of her iniquities, yet now she sees those fortresses, which are the keys of the country, which are of essential importance to the well-being of the State, resigned to the legions of France. The king himself is little better than a cypher or royal captive in his own palace. The United Provinces, Switzerland, Portugal, some States of Germany, have distinguished themselves as the friends of this mighty Foe to Jesus Christ; they have presented most flattering addresses; they have received his soldiers as brethren, and the valiant friends of liberty. What have been the consequences ? These countries have been overrun with desolating armies; they have been plundered and murdered; their harvests have vanished from their fields; their sick have been torn from their beds, their houses have been barracks for French soldiers; their sons and husbands have been dragged into the armies of the Conqueror, to bleed and die unpitied and unknown; their daughters and wives have been polluted by the legions of Anti-Christ; their governments are dissolved, and their names are blotted from the catalogue of Nations.

On the other hand, "the mother country," the blest land of our fathers sepulchres, Great-Britain, has nobly dared to wage a just war with this blasphemous Power. What have been the consequences ? Her fields have never been robbed or defiled by the troops of Napoleon; they have never spread desolation along the fair coast of England; they have never profaned her churches, nor dragged her sons into their bloody armies; the navies of England ride triumphant in every sea; they chastise her enemies; they waft to her ports the comforts and luxuries of every clime. Such is the fruit "of coming out" from Anti-Christ; while we and other nations, like moles and bats, crawl at the feet of the Conqueror; like serpents eat the dust of his feet, or are chained to his car to swell the splendor of his triumphs. Our incalculable sacrifices; our loss of ships, our tribute, our suspension of commerce, are entirely the fruit of our friendship to Anti-Christ. The present state of the world, is a lucid comment on our text. Those, who deny our text, or our construction of it, ought to be ignorant of passing events in Europe and America, to claim any particle of consistency or integrity. Those, who have not come out from this Power have partaken in her sins, and are now, now actually receiving her plagues. Our country has begun to sip the deadly draught; others have drunk the very dregs. Be warned then, oh my friends, my beloved people. As the warnings of Jonah shook the walls of Nineveh, so should the voice in the text awaken your fears. An enemy is at hand; he is not a trifling enemy. He is a strong man armed, and as artful, as he is strong. He deceives whom he cannot subdue. His friends are as bold as guilt and despair can make them. They have no hope, but in the success of this arch enemy of Jesus Christ. Their union seems indissoluble; they are joined by bands of iron. As the Egyptians unitedly pursued their revenge of Israel into the abyss of the sea; so these men, although their chariot wheels drag heavily, seem resolved to brave all the dangers and terrors before them. As in a storm, when all hope is lost, sailors seize the flowing bowl, that in drunkenness they may deaden the horror of going down together; so this unhappy fraternity inflame themselves with party spirit, that they may laugh at destruction, and sport with the awful doom, bursting on themselves and their country. As "devil with devil damned firm concord holds"; these maintain a horrid combination of spirits, and bid defiance to conviction.

Beloved, though we thus speak, we hope better things of you; still it may be wise to examine yourselves; we beseech you to examine your hearts to the bottom; see if there be no seeds of this contagious infidelity; no spark of this unhallowed fire, smothered in any corner of your hearts. Merely joining with that section of the public whose object it is to support religion, will not, cannot save you. Personal virtues you must possess. Though none of you, as far as we know, are so lost to religious impressions, as to act in concert with the friends of Anti-Christ; yet are you never secretly pleased with their dreadful spirit and character ? Do you never secretly rejoice to see them carry havoc into the vineyard of Christ, afflict his servants, and trample on the fruits of their labors ?

If you value your own peace and safety here; if you would not pull down the judgements of God on your families, your neighbors, and your country; it you would not with all the friends of Anti-Christ sink into that lake, which burneth forever and ever; then fly from this unholy enemy. What communion hath light with darkness; what concord hath Christ with Belial ? "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

AMEN.

Notes for page 4.

The executions in Paris in one month, July 1794, were 88 ministers, 305 nobles, 530 of the people, total 929. Playfair.

A child of ten years of age had been corrected by its mother. He ran to the revolutionary tribunal, and accused her of being still attached to the catholic relogion. The accusation was renceived; the boy was rewarded and the mother executed in a few hours. History of the French Clergy.

Goullin beat his own father with a stick, when the old man was on his death bed; the father died in two hours. Ibid.

Notes for page 8.

Camus and Condorcet, leaders in the national legislature, openly taught atheism; and another of them, Ceruti, said with his last breath, "I only regret, which I have in quitting the world, is that I leave a religion on the earth." Such would be "the blasphemy" of expiring demons. Barruel.

Sept. 3. Phillipe came to the Jacobin club, of which he was a member with a box in his hand; he made an harrangue, declaring those worthy of death that preferred the ties of blood to those of patriotism, and to prove his sincerity, opened the box and held up the heads of his mother and father, "which I have cut off," said he, because they refused to hear mass from an apostate priest. Jacobins of late have ycleped themselves republicans.

Hist. Of the French Clergy

When I was in France I saw sufficient reason to believe, that hardly any person of eminence, was a believer in Christianity; and no person will suppose there has been any change in favor of Christianity. Dr. Priestly.

Gobet, the bishop of Paris with his grand vicars, and three revolutionary priests in the hall of the Legislators, abdicated Christianity in form; they begged pardon of the nation for duping them into a belief of the divinity of an Imposter, and declared they acknowledged no Deity, but Reason. Barruel.

Notes for page 11.

More than L 17,779 sterling, have been contributed in England for the sufferers in Germany, besides various sums in Scotland.

Having been obliged to supply French armies with provision and clothing, cities and villages being crowded, last summer there was such a scarcity in several parts of Saxony, Silesia, Bohemia, Austria, and other provinces, that many baked bran for bread, and used grass for vegetables. Some people went even to those places where dead horses were thrown, and fed upon their carcasses. Such is the misery of French amity. The breath of the monster is fatal; her contagion is death. See Panoplist, Vol. I.

Sold at the Book-Store of Thomas & Whipple.

PRINTED BY HILLIARD AND METCALF, 1808

PREFACE

The Dudlean Lectures at Harvard was instituted by Massachusetts Superior Court Justice Paul Dudley (1675-1751), the purpose of which was to serve as a forum to present authoritative defence of the intellectual veracity of the Bible. To be asked to speak here was perhaps the highlight of one’s professional career, afterward becoming listed among the few who obtained the high honor.

Reuben Puffer was granted a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1778 from Harvard University.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

https://www.angelfire.com/nh/politicalscience

Cambridge, May 11^th, 1808

REV. SIR,

In compliance with a vote of the students of the University, we, a committee from the several classes, have the honor to express to you the high pleasure, which we have all received from your excellent discourse, and, in their behalf, request the favor of a copy for publication. With assurances of high respect and esteem, we remain,

Rev. Sir, your Humble Servants

LLOYD N. ROGERS, SAMUEL BIRD, WILLARD PHILLIPS, SIMEON PUTNAM, Committee

Rev. Reuben Puffer.

Cambridge, May 12th, 1808

Gentlemen,

THE polite notice you are pleased to take of my sermon, delivered yesterday in the Chapel, has a strong claim on my gratitude. Its publication was not contemplated. Preparation for a distant journey prevents a revisal of the manuscript. However, at your repeated request, I resign it, with perfect confidence, to the exercise of the same candor, which it was heard.

With sentiments of cordial esteem,

I am, gentlemen, Your obliged servant,

REUBEN PUFFER

Messrs. Lloyd N. Rogers, Samuel Bird, Willard Phillips, Simeon Putnam, Committee.

A

DISCOURSE.

THE importance of divine revelation, and the evidence by which its credibility is attested, have often been ably stated and defended in the course of these Lectures. As little can be added to what has been already done in this way, the speaker hopes it will not be deemed too great a departure from the designs of the institution, if he mostly confine himself to a humble attempt to excite inquiry; assured, that if it be conducted with a sincere desire to know and obey the truth, the result will be decidedly in favor of revealed religion. In aid of the proposed attempt, the attention of this learned and respectable auditory is directed to a conversation concerning the Messiah, recorded

JOHN 1: 46

Nathaniel said unto him, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him, come and see.

WE have in these words have in an instance of illiberal prejudice, and of laudable candor. Jesus had called Phillip to be a disciple. Philip soon after meeting Nathaniel, who probably was his intimate friend, communicates the joyful intelligence; "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nazareth, was proverbially a place of mean repute. No sooner therefore does the sound vibrate on Nathaniel’s ear, than prejudice awakes, and mingled surprise and unbelief he asks, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth!" Instead of insisting on implicit belief in his assertion, Philip calmly replies, "Come and see." He goes, and contrary to received opinion finds, not only that some, but the greatest good might come out of Nazareth.

The passage suggests the propriety and importance of free inquiry on religious subjects.

In illustrating this point, it may be useful to exhibit a summary view of the evils of implicit faith; offer some considerations adapted to excite inquiry; show how the inquiry must be managed; and close with the invitation of the text.

1. The evils of implicit faith are to be considered.

An apostle of Christ has left it in command, to "be ready always to give an answer to every one, that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us."" This is not merely required of those, who are "set for the defence of the gospel;" it is in a degree necessary for all. The gospel has never been free from enemies, who, in various ways, have sought to destroy it. Long it struggled with a relentless persecution, and thousands sealed their religious testimony with their blood. In our age, the attack is made with other weapons, less dangerous indeed to the lives of its professors, but not less dangerous to their faith. The shafts of wit and ridicule, aided by the more sober, but not less fallacious display of argumentation , are the chosen means made to subvert a system, which sustained the fiercest assault of fire and sword. There is no one but may sometimes be challenged, Why are you a christian ? Why do you receive for inspired truth the doctrines of the gospel ? To such a demand, free inquiry will furnish a ready answer; but implicit faith must be silent and confounded.

It will readily be conceded, that all have not equal abilities and advantages for a complete investigation of the subject. But all, who are capable of understanding what religion is, may, by careful and diligent search, satisfy their own minds, and be led to embrace it for its own sake, and not merely because it is the religion of the country. As for those, who enjoy the best means "of coming to the knowledge of the truth," in them the neglect will be unspeakably criminal.

Except the grounds of our faith be explored and ascertained, our religion cannot be a reasonable, nor consequentially an accepted service. Faith not resting on evidence is blind credulity. Unconnected with sacred truth, and unsupported by divine authority, it stands not in the power of God, but is a mere act of homage to the imperious, but unfounded claims of tradition.

Admitting it as an acknowledged principle, that religion is no proper subject of human inquiry, what is there, that will not pass with the world under that sacred name? Blinded by prejudice, and led astray by imposing systems, men have been prepared to receive for sacred and inviolable truth the crude inventions of imposters, and the dreams of enthusiasts; and have confidently thought themselves entitled to the rewards of piety, when in fact they were fallen under "strong delusion, to believe a lie," and were unknowingly following "cunningly devised fables."

The absurd, and too often shocking rites of paganism sprang from this source. To this cause the successful imposture of Mahomet principally owed its establishment. And those corruptions of the Christian doctrine, which early made their appearance, and have long held dominion over by far the greatest part of christendom, originated in the same spurious sentiment, that it is the duty of man to believe, not inquire. Reason, had it been consulted, would instantly have rejected their absurd dogmas. But reason was not allowed a voice in the affair. To surrender his reason and his faith to those, who were supposed to have a rightful authority over each, was admitted without a murmur to be the duty of man.

As implicit faith is the door, through which dangerous and pernicious errors have found means to enter and establish themselves; so it is the prolific root of bigotry, uncharitableness, and persecution. It polluted the temple of God with idols. It converted the peaceful doctrine of Christ into an engine of party strife and political discord. It roused the passions of men to atrocious deeds of violence. And it originated the impracticable attempt to enforce religious uniformity in faith and worship, not by strength of reasoning, but by the irresistible rhetoric of the stake and the faggot. Such, O implicit faith, have been thy achievements ! But christianity revolts at such base methods of proselytism, and breathes a spirit more congenial to the nature of him, whose essence is love.

It will be asked, perhaps, is not unbelief threatened in the New Testament with the severest penalties ? Are we not in the most preemptory terms commanded to believe ? And does not this in fact bind on our necks the galling yoke of implicit faith ? Not in the least. He, who commands us to believe, requires us to "search the scriptures," that our faith may rest on proper evidence. Christ never blamed the unbelieving Jews, because they would not admit his pretensions without proof, but because they rejected the highest proof possible, that could be demanded or given, of his divine mission. "This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. If I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works." Thus it appears, that faith in the gospel of Christ is required solely on the ground of evidence. On this ground, unbelief is a complication of pride, enmity, and rebellion against God. Not, however, as is pretended, because they refuse to believe, when sufficient evidence is placed within their reach.

In detailing the evils of implicit faith we must have seen the importance of having clear and distinct ideas of the nature and grounds of our religion. To confirm this sentiment, let me, as proposed,

2. Offer some considerations adapted to excite inquiry.

That mankind will have some religion, seems to be generally agreed. That they have erred exceedingly in their speculations on this subject, is not less clear. "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God," is the earnest cry of unenlightened nature, which, but for some special revelation, must forever have remained unanswered. Allow this, which cannot reasonably be contested, and we shall be led to think it highly probable, that, in this respect, "God hath not left himself without witness of his goodness." If "he gives us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness,"" is it a supposable case, that he hath withholden "the bread of life?" Having freely provided for nourishment of these perishable bodies, an it be thought reconcilable with the benignity of his nature, to have neglected to provide the far more necessary nourishment of the immortal soul ? Hence, independent of direct proof, it becomes a reasonable conjecture, falling little short of certainty, that there now somewhere exists an express revelation of the divine will, to assist our feeble inquiries concerning the nature, worship, and final enjoyment of God.

Where now shall we seek for this revelation? Shall we repair to the Oriental Sages ? to the pretended prophet of Mecca ? or to the vaunting philosophists of the present age ? These afford no authentic information; have no valuable knowledge to impart on the interesting topics of religion. To the Bible, the, after the most critical and laborious research, must be the ultimate resort. It offers itself as a light from heaven, "to guide our feet in the way of peace." Nor are its credentials so vague, its proofs so dubious and uncertain, as to justify the neglect of examining its pretensions to this high office.

Religion, all will allow, is a most important concern. "It is not a vain thing for you," said Moses to the chosen tribes, "because it is your life." In the language of Christ, it is the "One thing needful." Compared with which the most weighty interests of time are trifles light as air. "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? Is it not then of unspeakable moment, that we duly attend to this subject ? If those legal instruments, which form a title to earthly possessions, are critically examined, and their validity carefully ascertained, with what superior carefulness should those writings be perused, which establish the right to ‘an inheritance incorruptable, undefiled, and that fadeth not away !’ When things of infinitely less moment excite attention, what can, I will not say, excuse, but extenuate the guilt of inattention here !

In a survey of revealed religion, its internal character, as a divine scheme of grace and redemption, is chiefly to be regarded. In this view, it attracts the notice of admiring angels; awakens in celestial breasts an ardent desire to gain clearer ideas, and to make larger discoveries in "the manifold wisdom of God." How much more does it become redeemed man, the highly favored subject of this unspeakable grace, to contemplate, with increasing earnestness, admiration and joy, the mercy, by which he is saved ! Here ample scope is afforded for intellectual research. Here let the human mind stretch and expand to the utmost, in exploring "the breadth, and length, and depth, and heights of that love of God, which passeth knowledge."

Where is the subject, that should so deeply interest our feelings, or so intensely engage mental exertion, as religion ? We reason about the works of nature; the operations of the human mind; the wars and revolutions, the laws and policies of nations; but none, nor all of these are of such magnitude, as the relation in which we stand to our Maker and Redeemer. Indifference here is utterly inexcusable. Of other branches of science men may be safely ignorant; but the evils of ignorance and error in religion are incalculable. Comparatively to little purpose, "a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom," in case "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord," be not comprehended within the circle of his inquiries.

Will it be said, that the works of grace are mysterious and incomprehensible ? So also, we reply, are the works of nature. Not a plant shoots from the soil, not a flower unfolds its beauties to the eye, but suggests inquiries beyond the reach of philosophical investigation. If this be no sufficient cause why the acquisition of physical knowledge should be relinquished, can it reasonably be made an objection against seeking, with equal ardor and perseverance, the knowledge of religious subjects ? Though there be depths in grace, which no line of human genius can fathom; mysteries, which no finite capacity can comprehend; yet enough of the "unsearcheable riches in Christ" remains to be known, to excite the zeal, and to reward the labors of those, who "incline their ear unto wisdom, and apply their heart to understanding."

In a word; the sentiments on moral and religious subjects, which men embrace, have a decisive influence in forming their characters. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Those sentiments therefore, equally as the conduct, which takes its complexion from them, will pass a solemn review at the great day. What can more clearly teach the right, or more forcibly urge the duty we are recommending ? If our religious opinions form a ground of moral accountability, does it not evince the necessity of their being the result of our own unbiased judgement ? If we must answer for ourselves, we must think for ourselves. Nor is the right of private judgement transferable; for I can no more invest another with the privilege to think for me, than I can depute him with a power to answer for me at the day of judgement.

Since then we can neither divest ourselves, nor be divested of this right, it is of importance to consider,

3. How it is to be exercised.

First. With cautious circumspection; lest we mistake error for truth, the opinions of fallible men for the dictates of inspiration. We have an unquestionable right to think for ourselves in matters of religion; but this by no means involves a right to think capriciously, or without regard to truth. In the exercise of this right we indeed act independently of men, but not independently of God.

Again, a sincere desire of finding the truth must guide our religious inquiries. Apart from this desire, there is little hope of succeeding. The upright only God will guide in judgement, and teach his way. The honest inquirer, who searches for truth, not merely to gratify an inquisitive temper, but that he may build on it a system of duty, shall not long "halt between two," or more "opinions," uncertain how to decide. Divine promise ensures him success, at least so far as respects essential truth. "If any man will do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine. He shall know the truth, and the truth shall make him free," free from those perplexities, in which others are involved, who neglect sober and impartial inquiry.

Devout application to the throne of grace is likewise indisputable. Prayer is the medium of communication between earth and heaven. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God." His spirit alone can purge from thick films the mental vision, and pour on it the light of celestial day. His inspiration must guide the young and inexperienced traveller in the path of knowledge and understanding. The proud sciolist, ""vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"" may refuse to bend the knee, and confess to God ; but the ingenuous student of nature and revelation will not fail of repairing to the Father of lights with this devout sentiment in his heart, with these pious words on his lips: "That, which I know not, teach thou me. Give to thy servant an understanding heart. Open thou mine eyes, that I may see."

To little purpose, however, will application be made to the study of religion as a science, if, as a scheme of practical godliness, it be overlooked and neglected. Where there is no knowledge of it, but merely as a system of doctrines; no experience of that efficacious influence, which renews the heart, and which forms a degenerate creature into the moral image of the Creator, it cannot be unto salvation. Researches, therefore, of a religious nature are to be commenced and prosecuted invariably from this principle; not simply that we may understand dark and intricate points, but feel the force of plain and obvious truths; not that we may learn to dispute ingeniously, but to "live soberly, and righteously, and godly in the world.".

Further. To determine the sense of scripture in any given case, it must be taken in a connected view. Separate from its connexion, it is liable to be perverted, and forced into the support of a cause foreign from its genuine sense. In order then to learn what the Bible teaches, we must give it a thorough examination, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual," and carefully tracing through all its prophecies, promises, institutions, symbols, and types, those leading and fundamental truths, which it is clearly the main object of revelation to unfold, explain and establish.

Inspired scripture is the only infallible standard of divine truth, and test of religious sentiment. To determine the interesting inquiry, "What is truth ?" we must repair to the only appointed judge in these matters, and abide the decision. Sacred scripture is the Christian’s directory and rule of faith. There only may he learn, with certainty, what the Lord his God requireth of him; thence only can he derive that knowledge, which is able to save the soul. Most sadly then is duty neglected, when the volume of inspiration is not read with the views now pointed out; most shamefully is scripture abused and perverted, when no better use is made of it than to establish a favorite system, or its authority is borrowed to give weight to preconceived opinions.

There is a strange diversity of opinions in the world, widely differing from and contradictory to each other; all claiming the same authority; and some of them belonging to men of distinguished name in the church of Christ. But we have no concern with them, further than "to prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." From the pure fountain of inspiration our religious sentiments must be drawn. By the test, which revelation affords, let their truth and validity be determined. Neither Paul, Cephas, nor Apollos, has any rightful dominion over our faith. Instead of ranging ourselves under the standard of some eminent Doctor in theology, a practice deeply to be deplored, and which has been the cause of lasting dissention, be it our part to be simply followers of Christ. His steps let us pursue, wherever they may lead us. His doctrines let us adopt, whoever may reject them.

We would not, by any thing said, cast reproach on those venerable men, whose great talents have employed, according to the light afforded them, in stating and illustrating the doctrines of the gospel. They merit renown; and their names will be long deservedly held in grateful remembrance. But still they were no more than ministering servants in the kingdom of Christ, and must not be seated in the throne of their master. As the angel, before whom St. John fell down to worship, prevented him saying, "See thou do it not, I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus, worship God;" so, were these eminent servants of Christ, for such we esteem them, permitted to address us from heaven, it would probably be with a solemn injunction to lay at the feet of the great "Author and Finisher of our faith" the honors so improperly ascribed to them.

4. Let me now, in the last place, address to the sincere inquirers

after truth the invitation in the text.

Do you wish to know, whether thew gospel justly merit the notice that has been claimed for it ? We confidently say to you, come and see. Is a discovery of the eternal councels of God to save a ruined world; if the revelation of a glorious scheme of grace and mediatorial mercy, which concentrates the attributes of the Deity, and unites in one point the glory of God and the salvation of guilty man; if finally, a perfect pattern of purity and holiness, of meekness and condescension, of piety and goodness, and indeed of every moral excellence, be deserving of notice, then the gospel has preeminent claims on the attention of mankind.

Do you wish to know, whether it be credibly attested ? Come and see. Did the gospel forbid inquiry, and wrap itself up in darkness, it might justly excite suspicion. But so far from this, it challenges investigation. It has often borne the severest trial, and has always come off with honor and triumph. Come then and see how deep and firm its foundations are laid; too deep and firm to be overthrown by the most vigorous efforts of its enemies of ancient or modern time. Behold it resting on the basis of incontestable historic evidence, and exhibiting all the known marks and characteristics of a genuine narration of facts. See it supported by the joint authority of prophecy and miracle, a species of proof irresistibly convincing; for the reality of which we have every possible evidence that can be reasonably required, and which, in any other case, would be deemed irrefragable. See its truth confirmed by the unshaken testimony, and sealed with the blood of its first preachers, who were eye and ear witnesses of what they related; who could honestly make this unanswerable appeal to their hearers; "That, which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled, of the word of life; declare we unto you"---who, had it been a falsehood, must certainly have known it, and might have escaped death by the discovery.

You ask, if it might not have been a human invention ? Who could have been the inventors ? Not wicked men: they would have contrived a far different scheme of worldly power and aggrandizement. Not good men: for beside the incongruity of the supposition, they could have no possible motive, to frame a new religion, which exposed themselves to the loss of all things in this life, and, on their own principles, to eternal destruction in the next.

Had Christianity connived at the lusts of men, flattered their prejudices, bribed them with worldly prospects, or been propagated at the head of victorious armies, its rise and progress might rationally have been accounted for on other principles besides the power of truth. But that a holy and self denying religion should originate in a corrupt, licentious age; be propagated by the feeblest means; and "hold on its way, waxing stronger and stronger," not only without aid from the civil arms, but in the face of an opposing world; is a miracle so astonishingly great, that infidelity itself is constrained to acknowledge the agency of a divine hand.

You ask again, whether the gospel do in fact excel other institutions, which have borne the name of religion, and claimed divine origin ? It persists in saying, come and see. Where shall we find any thing, that does not shrink from the unequal competition ? Shall we bring into view the religious institutions of Greece and Rome ? Shall we summon the heathen philosophers upon the stage with each his system in his hand ? Alas ! "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Their theology was a corrupt mass of folly and superstition, dishonoring to God, and unworthy the rational nature of man. Although some of their moral writings are entitled to a just tribute of respect; yet, compared with the discoveries of the gospel, they are but a glimmering taper to the solar orb, whose resplendent lustre enlightens, pervades, and fills the universe.

Is the gospel a rational scheme ? Come and see. Its peculiar and distinguishing doctrines unfold a scheme of religion, mysterious indeed, but not irrational; profound, but not unintelligible; sublime, but not enthusiastic; incomprehensible, but not absurd. As a moral system, it is not less perfect. Show me the virtue, which it does not enjoin; or the vice, which it does not prohibit. Show me the moral excellence, which it does not

Exemplify; or the unlawful deed, which it does not condemn. So perfectly reconcilable is the gospel in all its parts, and in every view that can be taken of it, to the reason and understanding of man, that some of the greatest geniuses the world ever produced, to rank with whom in point of knowledge and abilities natural or acquired would be thought a distinguished honor, have counted it their highest glory to become its professed disciples and advocates.

Is it consistent with itself ? Come, and you shall see, not a chaos of discordant principles, thrown together in wild disorder and confusion; but a regular, harmonious scheme of truth and duty, the mutual connexion and subserviency of whose parts form a distinguished proof of its excellence and divinity.

Is it worthy of God ? Come and see in what a strong light the being, character, and government of Jehovah are displayed by it ! his love of holiness; his hatred of sin, and his unalterable purpose to vindicate, in the view of all intelligent beings throughout the universe, the honor and dignity of hid violated law. See on the cross of Christ the lines of justice and righteousness, of mercy and grace, legibly inscribed ! Approach, and read the inscription. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!"

Was a divine revelation necessary ? Let those nations, on whom the sun of righteousness never shone, furnish the answer. Idolatry, with its train of horrid rites and shameful mysteries, had long assumed a systematic form; and the boasted wisdom of the world, instead of correcting, meanly lent its aid to the existing evil. But wherever the gospel prevailed, it terminated the reign of idolatry. It overthrew its bloody altars, and abolished its impious rites. It revived the knowledge and worship of the true God. It demonstrated the truth of a resurrection from the dead, and of a future state of eternal retribution. It raised the general standard of morals much higher, than it was ever found in the pagan world. It relaxed the severities of war, abated the harshness of servitude, and procured for the helpless part of the species, of which it was the avowed patron alleviations before unknown. In a word, it every where improved the character, meliorated the condition, and multiplied the comforts of social life. And that it has not long ere now banished all evil from our nature and world, and introduced universal order, peace, and joy, is not imputable to any defect in the gospel, but to the enmity and opposition it has experienced.

Are not its institutions unmeaning and useless ? Which of them will you so demonstrate ? Not certainly a weekly sabbath, and the public religious instructions connected with it. These are of such vast utility, that, were they abolished, society would recede from its present elevated point of improvement, and gradually fall back into that savage state of ignorance and barbarity, when "darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the people." The initiatory and eucharistic rites of christanity are likewise not without their peculiar significance and use. By bringing into view the great facts and benefits of the gospel; by giving them a visible, embodied form; and thus, by addressing the understanding and heart through the medium of the senses, they subserve the great ends of religion, and happily lead mankind to a discharge of their correspondent duties and obligations.

See now of what importance revelation is to the world ! Thence we derive our knowledge of the Supreme Creator, his character, government, and works. Thence we draw authentic intelligence concerning man, his primitive rectitude, fatal lapse, and consequent restoration through the atoning sacrifice of a perfect mediator. Thence also we obtain a distant prospect of that country beyond the grave, the regions of immortality and life.

See how well Christianity accords with the nature of man ! What light it affords to them, that sit in darkness and the shadow of death ! What relief it brings to the guilty conscience ! What joy it communicates to the afflicted soul ! And how it operates in the hand of the Holy Spirit, as the efficacious instrument of turning men from the error of their ways to the wisdom of the just !

Finally, Come and see its necessary relation to endless happiness ! See with what precision it has stated the conditions, and with what accuracy it has drawn the path of eternal life ! See it exhibiting a just view of the nature, and urging by the strongest motives an unceasing pursuit of that "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord !" See how it confirms the hopes of nature, and strengthens the eye of faith to behold the crown of life laid up for the righteous ! Under these bright and cheering views, who can forbear to exclaim; "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ?"

Such is the Christian religion, Whatever may have been alleged to the contrary, it is the most amiable, benevolent, and useful institution the world ever saw. Its language is peace, its spirit charity, its object holiness, and its end everlasting life.

Come then, ye searchers after truth, ye admirers of that which is lovely, come and contemplate "the revelation of Jesus Christ," which God made unto the world by him. See its majesty and authority ! See its perfections and beauty ! See its purity, its power, its abounding grace and love, its consummate excellence, and its complete adaptedness to the exigencies of fallen man ! Believe ye the gospel ? I know that ye believe. Such an assemblage of excellences, such a flood of light, cannot but excite faith even in the most slow of heart to believe.

The students of this University will perceive, that I have waved a detailed exhibition and arrangement of the evidences of revealed religion. I feared the most important subject might suffer in my unskillful hands. But no apprehensions were entertained from the strictest scrutiny, but the most encouraging hopes. I have therefore brought you to the threshold of this temple of the living God, and desired that you enter, and see for yourselves. Never will you have cause to regret the having followed this counsel. Never will you see reason to think the time and pains bestowed on this subject to have been unprofitably spent. "Wherewith shall a young man cleans his way ?" The Bible: Yes, after all your inquiries and researches, the Bible will be found your best instructor, your safest guide. It will infallibly conduct you through all the obstacles of human error, weakness, and infirmity, up to the throne of God and the Lamb.

Soon you will leave this hallowed retreat to mingle with the world. May that religion, an inquiry into which we have been earnestly recommending, accompany your private walks, and enable you to fill with honor and usefulness your future respective departments of civil and ecclesiastical life. Believe me, the hour is coming, when the pleasures of scientific pursuits will be no more. But the knowledge of a crucified Savior, though foolishness to some, and a stumbling block to others, is a perennial fountain of consolation and joy, "a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Adhere to the gospel, which discloses this fountain, which unlocks these treasures of grace, as the charter of your salvation, the pledge and earnest of your eternal hopes. Forgive me, if I say, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit." Spurn with indignant contempt the degrading idea of being reduced to the condition of an insect of a day. Assert your claim to immortality. Open your eyes to the bright radiance, your hearts to the sanctifying influence of divine truth. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, lift up against him the standard of a Redeemer, "and be not soon shaken in mind, or troubled." Above all, "in this adulterous and sinful generation, " when many "will not endure sound doctrine," but forsake the rock of everlasting hope to float on the tide of uncertain opinions, take heed that ye "be not ashamed of Christ, or of his words; for of such will the son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of the Father" to judge the world.

DELIVERED AT

ON A DAY OF PRAYER,

AUG. 4, 1807,

NEWBURYPORT:

FROM THE PRESS OF EPHRAIM W. ALLEN.

1808.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

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Reprint and digital file September 1, 2001.

Joseph Dana graduated from Harvard, 1760, and received his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from Harvard (S.T.D.) in 1801.

Page numbers in the original publication are shown in brackets as such: [ 3 ]

The following begins the original text:

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MATT. 16, 26.

FOR WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED, IF HE SHALL GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL? OR WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL?

Our Lord had been hinting to those about him, what they must be prepared for, if they meant to be his disciples. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross and follow me." It might seem hard; but it was of absolute necessity, as the next words declare. "For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it." He who saves his life by denying his Lord, will but die the more wretchedly in the issue. He on the contrary who lays down his life for Christ’s sake, though he may seem to throw it away, shall recover it, with infinite advantage. Our text follows. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" That is, when it is lost, wherewith shall he recover it? What has he to offer in the way of ransom, suppose him to have all the world?

By the words, we are led to consider such things as these. The soul of man is of high value and importance. The soul may be lost. If it is lost,

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no possible worldly acquisitions will be any compensation. Nor can all the world redeem a soul, when once it is lost.

I. The soul of man is of high value and importance. It is so absolutely; and it is so in a relative view.

Considered ABSOLUTELY, the soul is of high value. Whether we contemplate its excellent structure, and noble, powers; or the important ends it was made for, and is capable of serving.

1. If we contemplate the soul in its peculiar structure, we see its worth. All the works of God are perfect in their kind, The visible heavens, sun, moon and stars; the earth and all things in it, are wonderfully made. Yet these are but so many modifications of senseless matter. The soul is a spiritual, intellectual production: And seems to be a more near and immediate emanation from the Supreme Spirit. "Vital spark of heavenly flame," the poet calls it. Inspiration confirms this idea, when it styles the Creator, so emphatically, "the Father of our spirits."*

The soul of man is of immortal make. I do not say independently eternal; but such by the Divine pleasure is its destination. It is made for endless existence. And there is nothing in its nature tending to dissolution, as there is in all corporeal things. "The stars shall fade away," says an expressive writer; "The sun will grow dim with age; nature will sink in years :" but the soul will "flourish in immortal youth ;" it will survive "the war of elements, the wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."

2. Consider this immortal spirit in its noble powers, and we see its importance. ‘The Creator has

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given it understanding; the faculty of contemplating things visible and invisible; and of reasoning and judging concerning them. It can trace things to their causes; and ascend to the Great First Cause. It can trace effects, consequences and connexions, near and remote. It can reflect upon the past; and look forward to the future. It can distinguish the useful and the hurtful, the safe and the dangerous, in natural things; and what is much more, in things moral and spiritual. It has a conscience of duty; and a capacity of entering into it, in affection and in act. It can feel the impressions of moral excellence; and is capable of uniting with it, and paying homage to it, with a delight far transcending every other kind of enjoyment. How do these capacities of the soul show its importance! especially when we consider of what vast improvements they are capable.

To know what enlargements the human mind will admit, we may look to the state of the saints in heaven: Perhaps go further, and conceive them still rising to more exalted views and more sublime exercise, forever. And when we consider that these intellectual powers which may be so enlarged, are capable of being employed to eternity, upon the best and highest of all objects, and with corresponding affections; what an idea does this give of the soul’s importance!

It is true, the soul of man may be debased; and its taste so depraved, that it cannot relish the objects in which its proper happiness lies; nor act, nor be affected, as its rational nature and immortal destiny demand: And this we all have but too much cause to think of and deplore. BUT THE SOUL MAY BE RECOVERED!! Thanks to the free mercy of Cod, and the love of a Redeemer, a way

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is opened for it! Nay more, the mercy offers itself; and if it is not ours, it is because we slight and reject it. Therefore it is but just to estimate the soul’s worth by its being capable of such a recovery; and by the high manner in which it will act and expand forever, when it is recovered; and by all those circumstances of blessedness and dignity, to which, through abounding grace, it is capable of rising. I go on therefore to observe

3rdly, The soul’s worth may he judged of by the sublime purposes it is made for, and capable of serving. All things were made for the glory of God. The inanimate and the animal creation, both declare it. But souls were made to see and admire the GREAT SUPREME, in all his works, and give Him the praise of them. They are to collect and pay in, the tribute of glory and honor so justly due. And of what high value does the soul appear, when we view it as capable of acting to such high purposes, and that to eternity.

If now we consider the soul RELATIVELY, we have another view of its importance. Every one’s soul is of value to himself: And as we estimate an estate according to its income; the profits to be derived from it, and the means of enjoyment with which it furnishes the possessor ; so the worth of the soul in a relative view, may be estimated by the number, variety and magnitude of enjoyments which may result from its intellectual and moral faculties, and from their exercise.

The pleasures which are proper to a soul, how do they transcend all others ! And if what may be enjoyed in this life are so precious, how great, through grace, may be those of the world to come! And how is an eternity of such fruitions to be computed?

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Among these pleasures we may instance that of conscious sincerity. No earthly treasures are comparable to such a consciousness as good men carry with them, even in this life. "Our rejoicing is this," said a primitive disciple, "even the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world."* What happiness then, must arise from full consciousness of being all that we should be, in thought, in temper and affection! And that pleasure enhanced by the joy of recovery. "This" soul "was dead" in sins, and "is alive again was lost" in the gulph of pollution, "and now is found"—spotless pure, never to sin more.

Add to this the pleasure of action (the true rest of a restored soul) where every faculty acts under a pure direction, and to the noblest ends.

In a rectified state of the mind, how great are the pleasures of knowledge; where curiosity, and the penetrating faculties, have their proper direction; where the object ever pursued, is to see God in all things, and glorify him in strains yet more exalted ! How sublime are the pleasures of contemplation, where the heart keeps pace with the understanding, and all things are felt according to their nature ! And where the love of novelty, that strong characteristic of the human soul, being now reclaimed from every false pursuit, finds the gratification which the God of nature intended for it, in the infinity of his nature and perfections, his designs and works!

This leads us to remark, that as the worth of the soul is to be estimated by its capacities of enjoying, so by the boundless field of entertainment which it has to range in, and the endless gratification

*2 Cor. i,ii.

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which that field can afford. And what is there in all that the God of Glory has manifested, or will manifest of himself, which will not afford matter of delightful contemplation to a good mind; and much more to the mind when made perfect ? It can enjoy all the wonders of Creation, Providence, Redemption, with a sublimity of delight ; especially when the time comes, that good men shall see as they are seen, and know as they are known when no such perplexity will attend their contemplations, as often attends them here; when their views shall be far more comprehensive than now; mysterious subjects much more explained ; and their hearts perfectly attempered to all divine things! By the worth of these enjoyments, then, conceive the worth of that soul by which we are capable of being raised up to them.

To contemplate moral excellence with proper esteem, may be justly considered among the prime felicities of having a soul. It not only gives delight of a superior kind, but it ennobles and exalts the soul. Above all, to look up to HIM in whom all excellence dwells in infinite perfection; this is happiness ! And it is thus that beholding you are changed into the same image from glory to glory.* What then is the beatific vision ? †

Who can express the pleasures of love and adoration ---Of giving honor and thanks, with the whole soul, to Father, Son and Spirit ; where all Divine glories are beheld without a veil ; where the wonders of heavenly love and mercy are in full view; and every sensibility of the sanctified heart is in perfect exercise

Who can express the felicities of communion with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, by the

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Holy Spirit!---Where God, with infinite condescension, opens his heart to the heirs of mercy and the Redeemer his: And perfect love on their part can open theirs to Him, can harmonize in all things, can take an interest in every branch of the Divine glory, and in all the interests of the Redeemer

Add to this the joy of obedience, inspired by perfect attachment, and gratitude inexpressible

and allow for the unknown ways in which Those active principles may find their gratification.

Add to this the joy of assurance in those points which lie nearest the heart; an interest in your Maker’s love---never having it withdrawn---never sinning more. Add the eternal fruition of that love, and that of your Savior, with all the precious tokens of’ the one and the other.

It is not a small specimen of the soul’s worth, that it can enjoy God in his people, in this life, in a happy degree ; but much more in future, when Christ "shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."*

To be capable of the communion of saints, and all that precious enjoyment it affords, what a happy capacity is it ! Were we but to mention the high pleasure of meeting all our dearest christian friends before the throne of. God, never to be separated more; what an idea of enjoyment would this alone bring up But add to it the joy of introduction to the whole General Assembly and Church of the FIRST-BORN; the perfect unity and confidence realized at once ; the enhanced pleasure of worshipping God and beholding his wonders, in such company ; what is it to be capable, through grace, of entering into this happiness!

* 2 THESS. 1, 10.

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But who can express the aggregate of advantages included in having a rational soul? And the numberless sources of enjoyment, which its various faculties and the infinity of objects presented to them, may afford ? Stretch your thoughts, however, and add ETERNITY to the INFINITE of exalted pleasures of which we are capable ; and then say, What is the worth of a soul ?

But, we come to consider

II. A most serious truth ; that the soul may be lost. Our Lord clearly implies it: And what is intended by losing the soul, and by what means it may be lost, it belongs to us to consider.

Our Lord in another place tells us, The Son of Man s come to save that which was lost.* Which implies that already we are in that condition, until he looks after and delivers us.

Undone in reference to the great end of our being—glorifying and enjoying God; and lost, forever, if left to remain as we are. But since through the mercy of God, a Savior is come, and a way of recovery opened, a new question arises, Whether a soul shall be saved, or finally lost : And this is the question which our text brings up. The loss of the soul; then implies here a coming short of salvation ; going without that interest in Christ which insures it; and therefore perishing as certainly as if no Savior had appeared: Cut off by the sentence of the law, from which one might have been discharged; and given over to that destructive dominion of sin from which there might have been a deliverance : In which case the soul is forever lost to the life of God, and the enjoyment of itself; to all that right exercise of its faculties, and all those virtuous pleasures, to which salvation would have

* Matt. 18; ii

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raised it: And in fine, all the benefit of having a soul is lost; and this, under the aggravating reflection and enhanced guilt, of having had a price in the hand to obtain salvation, and never improved it.

If now it be inquired by what means the final loss of the soul is incurred; it is not simply by being a sinner, though in a high degree: For pardon is proclaimed to the guiltiest rebel, and saving grace is offered to the most depraved. Yes, "Be it known unto you, men and brethren," said Paul to the obstinate Jews of Antioch, "that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."*~~~That is, crimes for which the dispensation by Moses admitted of no atonement. "Unto you," said Peter to the crucifiers of the Lord of glory, "Unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." †

This mercy then, offered itself freely to them, great sinners as they were; and it does the same to us, whatever we are. If our souls are lost then, it will be by sinning against mercy, and rejecting a Savior; By not receiving Him in character, agreeably to the gospel proposition; not embracing salvation, not seeking, not waiting for it, according to the spirit of gospel invitations. Of this a variety of views may be taken.

Sometimes there is a flagrant contempt and rejection of the Savior and his gospel, as in the case of those Jews at Antioch before mentioned. This Paul and Barnabas emphatically describe in these

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terms. "Seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life ;" that is, give sentence, in effect, against your OWN souls, that ye are plainly unfit for it.* What are the avowed and virulent infidels of our country now doing; but signing their own death warrant in like manner. All unrelentingness indeed, under the calls of mercy, and persisting notwithstanding, in sinful practice, speaks, in a strong manner, a contempt of that mercy: As under human governments, the continuance of a daring rebellion, after a proclamation of pardon upon submission, speaks loudly that the offered grace is not accepted but despised.

But suppose plain impiety and viciousness of character not to appear: Is there, however, the true spirit of "repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ?" A repentance by which we religiously condemn, loathe and abhor in ourselves, all known sin, and turn from it unto, God and holiness? A faith which gives glory to Christ in all his offices, and depends, and submits, and governs itself accordingly? If these are wanting, the soul is still lost; for in what other way can it be saved. St. Paul knew no other, for Jew or Greek, than that just mentioned. †

If consideration be a necessary step to faith and repentance, how many are undone by the want of it! How many by dissipation! How many by excessive "cares of this world, by the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things !" For these, as our Savior admonishes, "choke the word and render it unfruitful." ‡ They drown the voice of providence too, and prevent the due improvement of many awakening events; and this is another way in which the soul may be lost.

*ACTS 13. 46. †ACTS 20, 21. ‡ MARK 4, 19.

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Depend1ing on speculative knowledge of religious things, without being duly affected with them, is an other way. Suppressing those convictions which are sometimes felt, is another. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a christian," said king Agrippa to Paul."* But by all that appears, it soon past over. We never hear of his being more than almost a christian.

Resting in convictions without conversion; in awakenings without humiliation; in a solemnity in religious things, without cordial affection; is another, and perhaps not unfrequent way. How plainly does an Apostle teach us, that we are nothing without charity. That is, without a spirit of love to God and divine things, and to one another, according to the will of God, and for his sake.†

How many are lost by indolence! by not being willing to bestir themselves in spiritual things, as in any interesting earthly concerns. STRIVE to enter into the strait gate, says our Divine Master: Agonize for it. Seek her as silver, says the wise man (speaking of spiritual knowledge)—Search for her as for hid treasures.‡ But he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand.§ Among the attendants upon sloth, is a proneness to give way to discouragements, and think there are no sufficient inducements to taking pains in religion. " I knew," says the slothful servant, "that thou art a hard man—and I was afraid."II So his poor soul was lost.

How many are undone by presumption ! Confident of peace, though they walk in the imagination of’ their hearts¶ How many by procrastination, and a flattering hope of finding time enough, and time more favorable, hereafter. "Go thy way,

*ACTS 26, 28. † 1 Cor 13. ‡ Prov. 2, 4. §PROV. 10, 4. II Mat. 25, 24. ¶ Deut. 29, 19.

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for this time," said Felix, when the serious truth pressed upon his conscience—" When I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee."* And thus it was that his soul was lost—by all we can learn of him.

The enchantment of irreligious company is another mean by which many have been kept back from attending to their souls, and so have been undone. "Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life," † says the wise man. Such company he seems to say, will do every thing to prevent it. It will do every thing to forbid one’s entering into that consideration of the way of life, which is necessary to coming into it. Nearly connected with this, is a dread of the sneers of wicked, vile people: a dread which many have not been able to conquer, even when their consciences have felt, in a measure, the power of truth, and the importance of the one thing needful. Thus, as Inspiration admonishes, the fear of man bringeth a snare :~—No doubt, a fatal snare to great numbers. There is no safety indeed, as the following words hint, but by trusting in the Lord, and realizing that in His word of promise, which infinitely outweighs every such discouragement.

But how many, without this embarassment, still have not enough of self denial to come over without reserve to the banner of Christ, and make every sacrifice of pleasure, ambition, or worldly interest, which that requires The young man in the gospel, so amiable in a human view, so correct in his morals, so modest, so respectful in his air and behaviour to his Lord and ours, and so earnest to be instructed what he must do to inherit eternal life; when it comes to the very point, and he hears what

*ACTS 21, 25. †Prov. 5, 6. ‡Prov. 29, 25.

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are to be the terms of his admission as a disciple; how does he receive it? He is sad at the saying, and goes away grieved.* Grieved at the thought of losing his soul; and grieved that it cannot be saved without such conditions. Thus Christ and he parted: and this is the last we hear of him.

But beside instances in this kind, how many are lost by taking up with a false hope; and so never obeying the gospel because they imagine that they have obeyed it!

An UNSOUND FAITH in the Savior, which is not the result of enlightened and spiritual views of him; nor yet of thorough conviction of what brings us into such need of him; what a snare may this prove ! A partial faith which rejects essential branches of the Savior’s character, while it seems well pleased in some respects: A faith which has its reserves for darling sins, and neglects known duties, though it seem to be subject in some things; which produces a religion that is not moral; or a morality which neglects religion: what rocks are these for a poor soul to dash against!

A decent form of godliness without the power, is another: and still more plainly, if the power is denied and vilified. A religion with but little christianity in it, is another. That is, a religion which is rather founded upon what nature teaches, than upon what Christ and his apostles taught and enjoined: which does not keep in view the impressive glories and wonders of gospel revelation; nor imbibe its distinguishing spirit, nor adopt its sublime sentiments, nor respect its peculiar precepts, nor copy its great examples, nor feel its transcendent motives.

How many are lost by neglecting self examination!

*Mark 10, 22.

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whence springs even in professors of religion, that egregious deception noted in the Laodicean church; "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."* Depending upon the good opinion of others, what an undoing thing may that prove! Depending on a respectable outside; or else on Past experiences, without pressing toward the mark. Resting in a hope which has not a purifying influence, as Inspiration declares the hope of a true christian to have. †

In fine, whether with or without a gospel profession, how many are undone by having this world and its interests uppermost in their hearts, and reigning there; which, our Lord tells us plainly, cannot consist with that genuine adherence to Him, without which we perish. "No man can serve two masters." ‡

This case our Divine Master seems so have had especially in view, when he put the solemn questions in the text. He knew that the general cause of men's neglecting religion, or making shipwreck after embarking in the profession of it; was the worse in one form or other, having a predominance in their regards; and he knew that in either case, this, continued, would destroy their souls. He therefore thought it proper to bring his hearers, and to bring us, to a point, in this most serious way: What is a man profited &c. The sentiment is this ; he may think himself a great gainer, if he can acquire a large share of the wealth and gratifications which earth affords: But if in the mean time, his soul is undone, the case is far otherwise ; and would be if he had the whole world in

*REV. 2, 17. †I JOHN 3, 13. ‡MAT. 6, 24.

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his possession. Nothing he can have acquired will make him a gainer on the whole, or bear a comparison with the immense loss he has incurred. And thus we come to the

IIIrd observation. If the soul is lost, no possible worldly acquisitions will be any compensation.

This is not a subject which requires discussion.

It is plain already. It is self evident, in a manner; and as such, our Lord seems to have brought it up; as though the very stating of it, were sufficient to gain the assent of every sober mind. Still it is a subject which may need to be brought up, as much as any other.

WE ARE UNDONE BY THE NEGLECT OF PLAIN SUBJECTS. This and the other great truth, of infinite moment to be kept in view, are so well known, it seems, that they are past over; and as much overlooked, in a manner, as though they had been unknown, unheard. Nay, they are such old ideas, that sometimes men are tired of believing them, and wish to substitute something new in their place. But still our Divine Lord, who knows what subjects we have need to think upon, has thought proper to bring this up for our most serious consideration. "What is a man profited" &c. As if, he had said, The merchant, the man of business, is careful to calculate upon gain and loss, upon out-sets and neat profits, in the concerns of this life; and shall no such arithmetic be practised in concerns infinitely greater? Tell us then, ye expert calculators, what is the true solution of this problem; Suppose a man should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, what would the true state of his accompts turn out to be—profit and loss compared? What has he gained? Or what kind of bargain has he made for himself?

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This great question may be supposed to include two cases.

1. Suppose a person by the very same means, to gain the world, and destroy his soul :—That is ,by an act or course of sin, and that sin unrepented? There are acts of sin, and there are systems of wicked policy, which may produce much of what "the children of this world" call profit; great property, and power of course; or great power, and means of gratification of course. And we may conceive a case where, by throwing off the fear of God, and adopting a system bad enough, a man may become literally master of the whole world. But then this conduct persisted in, and unrepented, will infallibly ruin his soul. What then is the state of profit and loss in such a case? It is plain at once. A question of profit and loss, whereby some criminal act—say of high-handed fraud—a man acquires very great property at once, and at the same moment, forfeits his life by the laws, and must soon go to execution for his crime ; one would think were a case plain enough. But the one before us is yet more flagrant! And let it be remembered that it applies in a measure, to all those cases where the means of acquiring wealth, honor, or other gratifications, are in their own nature absolutely sinful.

2. The other question included is this; Suppose a person to acquire property, or other worldly advantages, more or less, by means not absolutely forbidden ; if yet, in the mean time, his soul is neglected, and perishes in sin, what now is the state of the accompt? Even here, it is the case of one who has taken great care of a trifling part of his estate, and suffered by far the best part to go to ruin. Or it is the case of an economist, who has been saving

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cents very carefully, and squandering away eagles. [ 10 dollar gold coins, perhaps, Willison Ed ] What miserable mismanagement is this And what an infinite balance is there against such a manager in the concerns of the soul ! It is a case not to be reflected on without unutterable regret and self-reproach, for such imprudence; and what is much more, for the inexcusable disregard of divine counsels and, divine things, which led to that imprudence.

Still more. Beside the infinite balance against one, in the case supposed, all that is acquired of this world’s delectable things, is of no benefit, on the whole, if the soul be lost. If you are to perish at last, my fellow immortal, what good will any thing do you? What is there of solid worth to you, even now, in possessing a large estate, if a little time hence you must take up your abode in the place of woe ? The single thought of this, must throw a cloud upon all your fair prospects ; it must embitter all your earthly pleasures And in the world to come, you will be more wretched than if you had been a beggar all your days. Those piercing words in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, what sensations must they produce ? "Son, remember, that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things." And thus we see in a short view, what immense loss is incurred, if the soul be lost, even though one should have gained the whole world.

IV. All the world cannot redeem a soul, when once it is lost. This likewise requires no discussion. It is brought up as an obvious truth, which every sober person must recognize. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? Suppose him to have all the world, still what has he to offer

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for his soul’s ransom ? Nothing: Just nothing. All that he possesses will do no more for him than the poor man’s poverty could do.

But to realize this truth, let us carry our thoughts forward a little,

1. The time is coming when many a person will find that in fact his soul is lost: That he has outstood the day of grace, misimproved his opportunities for salvation, slighted, to the last, the calls of mercy ; and that judgment is given against him accordingly.

2. At such a time a man would give all the world, most gladly give it, were it in his possession, that so he might redeem his soul, that it should not be forever lost. Yes, they who now neglect their souls, and appear to set very little value upon them, will all be of that mind then.— But

3. It will then be found that there is no room for such an exchange. All they ever had, or could have, will avail nothing. A thousand worlds could not redeem them. A thousand worlds could not have procured for them the opportunity they had, for obtaining salvation. It was procured only by THAT which was of infinitely higher value. Much less then could any corruptible things avail to prevent their final ruin, who have sinned away such a day of grace so dearly obtained. Believe it, my friends, there is no ransom in this case. "If we sin willfully," says the word of inspiration; that is, persist in rebelling. against gospel grace— "after having received the knowledge of the truth; there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins."* Such is the fatal consequence of persisting to slight that gospel grace, which is now inviting us to come

* Heb. 10, 26.

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and be saved, "without money and without price.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. From the view we have taken, let us "reverence our souls." And think what awakened attention is necessary, in such a world as this, that we may act in character as rational beings; and as immortals, whose eternity depends on their conduct in time !—What circumspection, that we do not neglect the one thing needful; nor abuse and destroy the spiritual part of us; by sensualities and low pursuits, unworthy or an immortal mind.

2. Let the care of the soul be recognized for what it really is; a prime object, to which all temporal interests, and certainly all trifling amusements, must in propriety give way. And let not this immortal mind starve any longer, for want of proper food ;—spiritual knowledge, religion, communion with its God, and the love of a Redeemer.

3. In the view of the soul’s worth, and of its danger, think what mercy of Heaven is displayed in sending redemption to us in our lost condition by such a Person, and by such a price! What mercy in tendering it to us sinners; with all its blessings;. and waiting with such condescension and long suffering, for our acceptance! And think, ye who do not obey the gospel, how great is the guilt of continuing to hazard the soul’s eternal welfare, by ungrateful neglect and procrastination!

4. I might have said, if the subject interest you, think how solemn is the care of souls. And pray for ministers, that they may obtain mercy to be faithful: and not labour still in vain, as they have hitherto, as to many. Let the same charity be

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extended to parents, to instructors of youth, and all to whom the care of immortals is intrusted. May we all awake to solemnity and diligence, according to our respective trusts. A little while, and we must go and give up our account of them. Who then is that servant, whom his Lord shall pronounce faithful?

Finally, let the various ways in which the soul may be lost, be solemnly considered, and kept in view. Some of these have been hinted. Many more demand a remembrance. And surely they are enough to solemnize us, if any thing can.— Let those, in particular, make a strong impression, to which our Lord appears to have a pointed reference.

What a loud alarm is here sounded in the ears of a busy world. Very loud, most certainly, to those who transgress the golden law of Christ, to acquire the riches, the pleasures, or the flattering distinctions, of this poor world. But loud and powerful to all who pursue earthly things in a manner not consistent with seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. O that it might bring all such to a solemn pause! It is not a trifling question which calls for it. It is such a one as the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD has thought proper to state, with great solemnity. WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED, IF HE SHALL GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL? In his judgment, it seems, the soul’s life is depending. The accompt of gain and loss will soon be made up. And where then is he who has not minded religion as his first and great concern? And with all he can have acquired, what has he to give in exchange for his soul? O think of this now.

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At the same time remember, that THE SOUL, though in imminent danger, MAY BE SAVED. And let this thought be "as life from the dead." O snatch the present moment, and be saved. Come now to your Redeemer, and to the paths of true wisdom, and be happy for eternity.

O ye who have obtained this mercy, what will you render? How astonishing is the grace that saves a soul from death, and hides a multitude of sins! O keep near to God. Be intreated to press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And prepare your songs

A

DEATH

OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT;

NEW-HAVEN,

1809.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file November 15, 2002.

Page numbers in the original publication are shown in brackets as such: [ 3 ]

The following begins the original text:

PSALM xxxvii. 37.

THE perfect man, in scriptural language, is the same person with the upright. Perfection, in the absolute sense, it is hardly necessary to observe, is never found in the present world. Every object, both in the natural and moral kingdom, is here stamped with mutability, decay and dissolution. In every thing earthly, there is much, that is of too little value in the sight of God to deserve a lasting existence. The world itself, as well as its furniture, and inhabitants, is destined to a speedy termination, and will soon be blotted out of being. A great part of all that, which forms the complicated

* This discourse was far advanced before the Writer was informed, that the Rev. Mr. Ely had chosen the same Text for his Sermon, delivered at the Funeral of Governor Trumbull.

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idea of Man, will follow the general destiny. Even the mind, if renewed here, will, like the body, which it inhabited, enter the world of life, shorne of many attributes, which have hitherto formed much of its character.

But, although no child of Adam is perfect on this side of the grave, there are many, who are in some degree, possessed of those characteristics, which, when unmixed and unalloyed, constitute perfection. All these are, on this account, styled in the Scriptures perfect. This name seems also, to be sometimes given to those of them especially, who sustain the character, referred to, in superiour degrees. In this manner we may, without violence, construe the language of the text.

The man of this character the Psalmist directs us to mark; that is, to observe with attention and care; as an object, which claims our solemn regard, and which to us may become particularly useful. In the view of this divine writer; in the view, let me add, of the Great Being, under whose inspiration he wrote this passage; there is something in the character and conduct of such men, which, when duly regarded by us, will naturally be productive of real and important good.

All upright men are not, however, equally interesting, nor equally profitable, objects of this attention. Nor can all men derive equal instruction, or equal benefit of any kind, from the contemplation of the same upright man. Good men, however good, when possessing humble faculties, filling very limited spheres of life, and acting in retired and obscure stations, furnish, usually, fewer lessons of instruction, and present fewer motives to excellence, than those, who, with more enlarged minds, are placed by their Maker in more elevated stations. Still every such man is, to those who mark his life, a profitable source of improvement; really to all who

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observe him ; peculiarly to those who resemble him in character and station. As moral beings, all men are substantially on a level and the most enlightened, refined, and dignified, may learn wisdom and excellence from the humblest votary of righteousness and truth. He, who fails of becoming wiser and better by reading the story of the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, may rest satisfied, that he fails, because he loves neither wisdom nor virtue.

But the history of Abraham, Moses, David, or Paul, is, nevertheless, instructive in a still higher degree. The Cottager, who cannot even read, may be a source of improvement to his fellow cottager in almost everything which can be useful to him; but will not very naturally, nor very often, become an object of the notice, or even of the knowledge, of persons in the higher walks of life. Nor would his worth, when observed and acknowledged, usually come home to the hearts of such persons with all the commendations, and enforcements, of which virtue is capable. But, when this glorious excellence finds a seat in minds of a superiour structure, and is raised to distinction of place and influence, it becomes visible to the surrounding world; attracts the attention of multitudes; appears in numerous instructive and persuasive forms; and is arrayed in a delightful and most engaging splendour. In this situation, all men behold, and mark, the perfect man with the highest advantage.

The reason, given in the text for obedience to the injunction, which it contains, is eminently impressive:

"For the end of that man is peace." This declaration is capable of two meanings; both just, and highly important. One of them is, that the death of such a man is peaceful; as being undisturbed by apprehensions of future evil, cheered by the approbation of a good

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conscience, serened by the hope of acceptance beyond the grave, and illumined by the Faith, which, to him becomes the evidence, and the substance, of eternal glory.

The other is, that the future being of the perfect man, is, of course, prosperous, and delightful. The object, indicated in the former case, is deeply interesting; in the latter, of infinite moment. Who can be indifferent to the gloom, the pains, the terrors, of death? Who must not think a deliverance from these evils, and the possession of the enjoyments contrasted to them, a desirable, a divine, consummation of our probationary state?

Who would not toil and struggle through life, and exult at death, with the assured prospect of finding, in the approaching world, a destiny, formed only of virtue, happiness, and honour. How accordant with the design of the Scriptures, how suited to the character of their Author, is a precept, which directs us to the contemplation of so instructive, an object, for the attainment of a good so divine?

Rarely has it happened, that mankind have been called upon to contemplate an example of the character and conduct referred to in the text, by which more, or more profitable, sources of instruction have been furnished, than by the excellent Magistrate, whose death has created so general a mourning throughout this state. Summoned by a call, invested with the highest human authority, to the employment of exhibiting a respectful view of his character on this occasion, I have felt myself bound to make the attempt. It will be attended with many imperfections: still it is hoped, that it may, in some degree, be useful to those who hear me.

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dignified and useful, one of the wisest and best, Rulers whose names adorn the pages of History. In the steps of this honourable Parent, the Son trode, through life, with an undeviating course. Soon after he had finished his education, he began to serve his Country ; first in the Legislature, and then in the Revolutionary army. Here, in respectable stations, he continued, with a short interruption, through the war. Soon after the establishment of peace, he was chosen again into the Legislature, of which he was regularly a member until the present American Constitution was adopted. He then was elected a Representative,, and soon after a Senator, of the United States. From the last station he was removed to the second, and then to the first, Chair of Magistracy in his native State. To the Latter he was annually elected by his fellow citizens, until he was removed by death. In all those situations, he acquired, uniformly, the approbation and respect of those with whom, and of those for whom, he acted. Not a spot is left upon his memory; distracted as was the season of his public life, and difficult as was the task of satisfying the demands of those whom he served. Such a career, only honourable to himself, and only useful to his Country, is a proof of his worth, which can never be assailed by hostility, questioned by criticism, nor impaired by time. Experience has assayed the ore, and proved it to be pure gold. On it his Country has authoritatively stamped the image, and inscribed the testimony, of her own approbation; and has thus given to it an undisputed currency through the world.

It is impossible to contemplate with sobriety and discretion the life of such a man, in such circumstances, without profit. Men in all stations may learn from it the most useful lessons. The citizen may gain the wisdom

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and worth, which will happily form his personal character, and direct his private concerns. The Statesman, in addition to these interesting attainments, may learn from him how to conduct with skill, success, and honour, the concerns of his Country.

Every wise and good man necessarily involves many excellencies in his character. Of these some are, of course, common to other men of this character; and some are, comparatively, of inferiour importance. An observer of life, who would derive from this source the most profitable instruction, will naturally rest his eye on those traits, which are peculiar to the object of his contemplation; and on those, which by their importance, are especially fitted to engross attention. In the present case, what would usually flow from choice, becomes the result of necessity. Were the preacher to descant, particularly, on the various and complicated excellence of his theme ; an extent of time must be allowed him, which would be wholly inconsistent with the demands of the present occasion. The personal and domestic virtues of Governor Trumbull might easily he insisted on with pleasure, and profit, through a volume. Who, unless peculiarly dull, or unhappily reluctant, might not learn from him amiableness of character, and exemplariness of life? By his side, whose integrity would not be strengthened; whose disposition would not be rendered more sweet and lovely; whose sentiments would not be refined; whose manners would not be polished; whose discretion would not be improved; whose life would not be adorned with increasing propriety, and superiour worth? Who, in a word, would not become a better father, a better husband, a better neighbour, a better friend, a better man?.

On these subjects however, interesting as they are, I cannot dwell. Adhering to the rule mentioned above, I shall take the liberty to select for your contemplation the following subjects; which, if I mistake not, were prominent features in the character of this great and good man.

I. The Energy of his mind was supremely directed to practical objects.

To the human mind there are three scenes of employment, in which, at times, it has acquired the distinction, customarily termed greatness: the field of fancy; the field of speculation; and the field of action. The first is peculiarly the province of the Sculptor, the Painter, and the Poet. The Philosopher occupies the second; and the Orator claims them both. The third is peculiarly the scene of effort to the Hero, the Statesman, and the Patriot. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that these remarks are made in a comparative sense only; or that, in greater or less degrees, fancy, reason, and action, are common to all men.

The end of all thought is action: and the whole value of thought consists in this; that it is the proper, and the only, means of accomplishing this end. He therefore, who is employed in acting virtuously, and usefully, fills a nobler sphere of being, than he, who is busied in that course of thinking, from which the action is derived. The proof of this assertion is complete, in the maxim, that the end is always of more importance than the means.

It is a remarkable characteristic of human nature, that few speculative men become eminently useful in the active spheres of life. Habits of speculation, long continued, and extended far, render the mind unfit for those vigorous efforts of activity, by which alone the practical

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concerns of mankind are prosperously managed. Speculative men, also, occupy most of their time, and thoughts, in devising, and establishing, general principles. Active men are chiefly employed in those details of business, which are indispensable to its success, and without which general principles are matters of mere amusement. Of these details almost all speculative men are impatient. Such men at the same time interweave, of course, their own theoretical views in every scheme of business, with which they are concerned. The energy of their minds is also employed, and exhausted, on their speculations: while the active business,, to which they are destined, and ought to be devoted, engages only their feebler efforts: the dregs, the settlings, of their thoughts. From these causes, and others connected with them, it arises, that a theoretical man is always a bad Ruler. To such men, however, there is often attached no small splendour of reputation. Whenever this is the fact, and they are raised to important offices of government, they regularly disappoint, and mortify, their admirers. Their official life is unproductive, inefficacious, and, with regard to the business which they are expected to do, lazy. Their views are visionary, and their designs, however well intended, totally unsuited to the objects, at which they professedly aim. Men they regard, not as they are, but as their imagination has fashioned them; and the world, not as we actually find it, but as it is viewed by an excursive fancy. Hence their plans,. instead of being fitted to promote the real welfare of man, are only a collection of waking dreams; a course of political Quixotism; regulating the affairs of a state in much the same manner, as the adventures of Amadis de Gaul would regulate those of a private individual.

The excellent person, whom we are contemplating, was a direct contrast to all this. Devoted to active

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employments from the beginning, accustomed to the various business of man, and sharpened in his discernment of practical subjects by the actual management of them, and by a long continued intercourse with those who were skilled in that management, he was habitually trained to that patient attention, that critical observation, and that skilful conduct, which are so useful, and so indispensable, in all business of real importance. By observing, watchfully, every thing which was useful, and every thing which was noxious, in public affairs; the measures which ensured, and the measures which failed of, success; he learned, in an unusual degree, the manner, in which success is obtained. Of this position his political life furnishes the most decisive proof. Not a single visionary measure, not a capricious expedient, not a fetch, not a whim, disfigures his public character, or presents a subject for a single disgraceful sentence in his political history. The story is all of one sort; and is told in one style. When he entered upon his public life, he struck a key; and moved in exact harmony with it to the end.

As his character was thus wise, and uniform; so it was eminently honourable. To the subjects, which have been mentioned, he gave the whole vigour of his mind. He was engrossed by them, as a Poet by the theme of his song; or the man of taste by the improvement of his villa. In all the successive spheres which he filled, his life, and his measures, were eminently useful; and deserved, and gained, the approbation of his own mind, and that of his country.

II. He was not less remarkable for his Prudence.

This attribute of the human mind is chiefly employed in preventing evil. In a world, where evil is so rife; and

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so ready to mingle with all our concerns, the necessity of this characteristic is absolute, and its value inestimable. Rash, headlong men, and the admirers of such men, have, indeed, very generally disesteemed it, because all its dictates condemn their folly, and the mis-chiefs, to which it continually gives birth. But the Wisest of mankind wrote the book of Proverbs, to give to the young man knowledge and discretion; and the SON of GOD has said, "I Wisdom dwell with Prudence." Perfectly accordant with these declarations is the exhibition, made of this subject by Experience. The mischiefs, done to every human interest through the want of prudence, are endless in their multitude, and incalculable in their importance. A single imprudent act has often destroyed a reputation, built up by the honourable labours of many years; a family, firmly established in prosperity; an army, apparently invincible, in the full career of victory ;- and a country, safe, to the human eye, from every enemy, and every danger.

Talents, energy, and effort, are, under God, the acknowledged means of procuring blessings. But of what value are blessings, which exist, only to vanish; and are gained only to be lost: a cup of Tantalus, receding from the hand, just ready to grasp it: a bubble, bursting at the moment, when it has begun to fascinate the eye with its enchanting colours? But Prudence is the only human means of securing the blessings which we acquire.: the Dragon, watching the garden of the Hesperides, and alone preserving its golden fruit from accident, fraud, and rapine. As much more valuable, as the secure possession of enjoyments is, than the mere acquisition, so much more estimable is this single virtue, than all those splendid attributes, and achievements, which awaken silly pride, and excite stupid admiration.

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The prudence of the man, whom we this day lament, bordered upon perfection. With his life, conversation, and views, and with many of those who best knew him, I have been long and intimately acquainted, yet I know not, that I ever heard him utter an imprudent word; nor that an imprudent act is recorded in his history. No such act has appeared in his public life : nor has any such act in his private life been communicated to the world. Those who come after him, will find nothing in his administration to censure, lament, or repair. Yet the season of that administration was one of the most difficult which this country ever knew; one of the most perplexing both to wisdom and virtue: a season, in which imprudence would have done more harm, than, perhaps, at any other period in the history of this State; and in which prudence has probably done more good.

To his possession of this attribute, in so high a degree, the Moderation, for which he was so remarkable, eminently contributed. Men are immoderate both in their Imagination and their feelings. In the former case we style them romantic; in the latter, ardent and sanguine. Men of the former class are visionary; of the latter, rash. At the schemes of the former class we smile: at the measures of the latter, when concerned with our serious interests, we tremble. All prudent men are found among the moderate. An immoderate man is constitutionally, and preeminently, imprudent.

For moderation, in both these respects, Governor Trumbull was highly distinguished. His imagination, although a fruitful source of pleasure, in private conversation, to those around him, was never suffered to mingle with his practical concerns, nor to intrude upon his serious pursuits. To sanguine expectations, ardent projects, and rash measures, he seems to have been constitutionally a

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stranger. Contented to view men, and measures, as they were, his mind annexed to them nothing adventitious; neither light nor shade; neither beauty nor deformity. He chose to see every thing in its native colours; and in this manner saw it with a truth and correctness, which no Sanguine man ever attained. To this mode of contemplating every subject all his plans, and measures, were conformed. They were, therefore, universally the plans, and measures, of sound, unbiassed common sense; and never the dreams of fancy, nor the headlong projects of inconsiderate ardour.

A remarkable proof of this trait in his character is found in the fact, that he rarely made use of a superlative; i. e. for the purpose of exaggeration. Words of this class are the favourite language of men, who are strongly influenced by imagination, or under the control of ardent feelings; men, who, as every one knows, are not unfrequently of a vibrating, variable character. His calm, unchanging mind found a peculiar satisfaction in describing, asserting, and, universally, in unfolding his views of objects, as they appeared to the intellect, and in conformity to naked truth. Men, in whom this characteristic is found, usually posses moderation, and stability also, in a peculiar degree, and peculiarly engage the confidence of their fellow men.

The benefits of this mode of thinking are both numerous and important. The measures, to which it gives birth, are, more than any other, suited to the real state of things; and are therefore easily and advantageously executed. They are attended with the least anxiety concerning their success; and most rarely create pain and disappointment by their failure. They ensure the reputation of wisdom to their author; and most

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effectually preserve the confidence, as well as the interests, of those, by whom he is employed.

Another characteristical part of his prudence was a disposition to ask the advice of others. We are- taught by the voice of Infinite Wisdom, that in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. To this truth the temper of his mind was peculiarly congenial. Eminently independent, he was at the same time far removed from self-dependence. As he had no points to carry, and no favourites to advance; as the public good was his real and only object; it was to him of no consequence, by whom useful measures were originated, provided they were actually originated; nor to whom the reputation of doing good was due, provided the good was really done. Hence he was ever ready to ask, and to respect, the opinions of discreet men. In this way he obtained, continually, the best views, which could be furnished, concerning important subjects; and was prepared to act in the most safe and salutary manner. Of this conduct, so accordant with his own disposition, he had an illustrious example in his great Master, the immortal Washington; to whose prudence the American States are scarcely less indebted for their happiness, than to his arms.

III. Our late excellent Chief Magistrate was no less distinguished for Firmness of mind.

It is not strange, that a person, whose sentiments, manners, and conduct, wore so uniform an aspect of softness and gentleness; who so readily yielded both his gratifications, and his labours, to the convenience of those around him; and who in private life seemed hardly to discover, that he had any inclinations of his own; should be thought to possess a yielding, gentle character

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only. Such an opinion, I am persuaded, was extensively spread among his countrymen in this, and in other parts of the Union. But no opinion was ever more erroneous. It is questionable whether there is a firmer and more independent man living. Every approaching storm he contemplated with composure:. every shock, however rude, he sustained with immoveable steadiness of mind. That cheerful serenity of countenance, which most of those, who hear me, remember so distinctly, and, as I persuade myself, with peculiar pleasure, never forsook him in the most threatening seasons. Troubles, instead of moving him, seemed only to give him an opportunity of shewing the stability of his character.

On the importance, dignity, and usefulness, of an attribute, so highly respected by all men, as firmness of mind has ever been; especially in a Ruler; it is unnecessary to insist. A mere glance at the mischiefs, effectuated by the contrary character, will sufficiently elucidate this subject to the satisfaction of the most sceptical inquirer. Let him, who is at a loss concerning the subject, cast his eye upon the transactions of Europe; and observe both the republics, and the monarchies, of that Continent, ruined by the timid counsels and wavering measures, by the indecision and inefficiency, of their irresolute Rulers, vibrating between hope and fear, between resistance and submission; and he will ask for no further illustration.

IV. He was in an eminent degree attached to the Manners, and Institutions, of his native State.

The literary world has been filled with discourses concerning Republics, and their various

appendages. In other countries, as well as in this, the press has been

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loaded with observations concerning Republican forms of government, Republican rights, Republican, institutions, Republican virtues, and Republican manners. Either these subjects are very imperfectly understood; or multitudes of those, who converse, and write, about them, can hardly be acquitted of sinister designs. Their practice and their declarations certainly have, in many instances, very little accordance. The State of Connecticut is more absolutely republican, than any other, which for a long period has existed in the world. Its constitution of government was originally formed, and established, by the freemen in person. Its laws; its institutions, which are the result of its laws; its manners, which are the effect of both; its virtues; and, I might add, its vices to a great extent, also; together with its rights, duties, and interests, are all entirely Republican. A man as such, is, in this state, possessed of more real consequence, than in any other. More than half, believe not far from three fourths, of its freemen hold, at some period of life, offices either civil or military; and thus actually share in the government of the state. The state is divided, successively, into counties, towns, parishes, and school districts: all of them bodies, holding, in subordination to the legislature, the powers of government over their local affairs; and thus superintending with peculiar felicity every interest, public and private, of every individual. Here, also, no man, as such, has any other power, beside his mere, bodily strength. All power exists in the law: and this is powerful without any assignable limit. But the real power of law itself lies in the fact, that it is actually, and not in pretence only, the public will. Men, here; have generally sufficient intelligence to discern, that Government is essential to

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their happiness; and to perceive that their own government is peculiarly auspicious to this desirable object.. Hence they feel a real approbation in this case ; and exercise a real choice; facts scarcely predicable of the great body of the inhabitants, in most other countries. In this lies the chief strength of our political system.

For this System, and all its parts,. and consequences,. the people of this state, are, under God, indebted to education, and habit. It could not be established, nor, if established, could it be supported, in any other country on the globe; not, I apprehend, even in its sister country, Massachusetts. It could not have come into existence, even in Connecticut, among any other set of men, except those, or such as those, who gave it birth;; for among them, in any circumstances of a different nature. It could not be maintained by any people, except their descendants.

At the same time, it is, at least in my own view, the best government, which has hitherto existed. I do not intend, nor am I so ignorant as to believe, that any form of Government is good in the abstract; or good; for every people; but I intend, that under this government the inhabitants are, and even have been, more free and happy,. than any other people ever were, since the beginning of time. and that their government is, at once, suited to their character, and the means of their happiness. It has, indeed, lost something, in modern times, of its former excellence but it still retains more that is valuable, than can be found elsewhere; and more, than, if once lost, will ever be regained.

As these mighty advantages have been preserved, hitherto, by the power of habit; and as habit depends for all its power on custom, and continual repetition; it

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is evident, beyond a question, that he, who loves this state ; or who, in other words, is a Connecticut Patriot.; will equally love its laws, institutions, and manners. Such a patriot was the late Governor Trumbull. It was from these views, that he set that high price on the "steady habits" of this State" ; for which he has been sometimes censured by persons, who, probably, had little considered the subject: while he has been applauded for it by others, as being a sentiment equally honourable to his patriotism and his wisdom.

Permit me, on this occasion, to say, that this is an attachment, in which every citizen of this state ought ever, to follow this bright example , an attachment, which every Citizen ought invariably to feel, and ardently to cherish: an attachment, which every citizen will feel, who clearly understands, and faithfully regards, the wellbeing of himself, his family, or his country.

Permit me further to say, that, should the Ruler of the Universe, provoked by our manifold sins, suffer our ignorance, our folly, our crimes., or the hand of a foreign enemy, to destroy this singular system, the brightest spot, which, since the apostasy, has been found on this globe, would be shrouded in darkness, without a promise of returning day.

V. This great and good Man was peculiarly attached to the Religious System of our Ancestors.

The religious doctrines, which the planters of New-England, particularly of the Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Connecticut Colonists, brought with them to this Continent, have not unfrequently been styled the Doctrines of Grace, and the Doctrines of the Reform aLion~

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That they are, substantially, the genuine doctrines of the Gospel, is satisfactorily evinced by two very interesting considerations. The first of these is, that they have been the doctrines of those, who in every age have claimed the character of Orthodox; and who by their adversaries have been acknowledged to possess it in the public estimation. By this I intend, that, from the age of the Apostles, they were those, in whom the Apostolic Church was regularly continued from period to period; so as to be, in each period, the same body with that, whose early history is contained in the acts of the Apostles; with that, to which the several Apostolic Epistles were addressed. Let me add; they were those, in whom almost, if not absolutely, alone the christian character has appeared with uniformity, and lustre. That this body of men has judged justly concerning the doctrines of the Gospel, and received them, at least in substance, as they are there revealed, cannot, I think, be questioned even with plausibility, or decency. That they have mistaken them, regularly, through such a succession of ages, and yet brought forth their proper fruits in an evangelical life, is to me incredible. The fact would certainly establish this remarkable conclusion; that error has been productive of incomparably more piety and virtue in the world, than the truth of God.

The second proof of this assertion is, what has indeed been hinted already, that these doctrines have effectuated, among those who have embraced them, almost all the moral excellence, which has appeared in the Christian world. If we may be allowed to understand the Apostles in the plain meaning of their declarations, these doctrines produced the mighty change which took place, among Jews and Gentiles, in the first and second centuries.

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In the same manner they renewed a great part of the Christian world in what is emphatically called the Reformation. To them, so far as my information extends, every Revival of Religion owes its existence. From them, and those who received them, nearly every attempt to reform, and christianize mankind, to publish the Gospel in their various languages, and to gather them into the fold of the Chief Shepherd, has obviously sprung. In them, let me add, the creeds and confessions of all the Reformed churches harmonize, without an exception of any serious moment.

Had we no other proof of the excellence of these doctrines, beside their happy influence in the colonization of New-England, and the beneficial character, which they have been the means of instamping on our laws, institutions, and manners ; even these would furnish a strong presumption in their favour. It will be remembered, that I have mentioned these objects as forming a combination, in my own view singular, as well as eminently happy. Such colonies never existed since the world began. No others were ever formed in such a manner, or by such bodies of men. No others have permanently produced such consequences, or given birth to such a state of society.

That this wise and excellent man should have received doctrines, so sanctioned, so beneficent to the interests of mankind; that he should have regarded them with a reverence, and submission, due to the revealed will of God; and that he should have adhered to them with a firmness, which, though calm, gentle, and catholic, was at the same time immovable; was to be expected by all, who were acquainted with his real character. He regarded them as the glory of his country, the glory of the

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Church, the glory of the Gospel, and, in this world, the peculiar glory of its Author. He loved all, who loved them: he honoured all, by whom they were honoured and defended.

VI. The Piety of this excellent Man was, at least, an equal1y distinguished trait in his character.

There are certain attributes, which mankind have agreed to admire, and applaud. This admiration, and this applause, have chiefly followed extraordinary talents, and extraordinary actions. Goodness has, I acknowledge, had, at times, and in particular circles of mankind, its friends, and panegyrists. But Greatness has almost alone fascinated the human eye, and engrossed human praise: Greatness, not accompanied by virtuous designs, nor directed to useful ends; but employed in promoting censurable purposes, and leaving behind it no traces, except those of corruption, suffering, and sorrow. But this is not the noblest attribute, these are not the most honorable efforts, of an immortal mind. There is a character, superior in its nature, and more deserving of commendation. There is a character which -commends itself to the unbiassed dictates of Reason; which, wherever it appears, awakens the smile of conscience; and which diffuses a cheering, glowing satisfaction through the heart. There is a character, which claims respect in the heavens; and calls forth the accents of commendation in the regions of immortality; a character, on which the firstborn love to dwell; which Seraphs acknowledge as the counterpart of their own excellence; and which the UNCREATED MIND beholds with complacency, immutable and eternal. This character, imperfect indeed, but real, is sometimes assumed by man; even in this world of debasement and sin. It is the holiness, the virtue, of the Gospel; the love of God, the love of man, accompanied, because those who assume it are originally sinners, by Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. This character is the light of minds; varying, without decay, through all the colours of beauty and glory. It is gold seven times purified, instamped with the image of Jehovah, and burnished with increasing splendour throughout the ages of eternal being.

This character is most usually found in the vale of humble life; and less frequently, than a benevolent mind could wish, in the superiour walks of man. In the present case, however, it has adorned the chair of state. The illustrious Subject of this discourse was not only a great, but, so far as this character can be proved to the human eye, a good man great and good in the sight of the HIGHEST. The piety and benevolence, the repentance and faith, Of the Gospel shone, with uncommon beauty, in the uniform, evangelical tenor of his life; lighted up the daily smile of serenity in his aspect; diffused a christian moderation Over his affections and conduct; exhibited itself as pure, peaceable, gentle, easily-entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy; enabled him to sustain, immovably, the burdens which he was called to bear, and to meet with a steady eye every approaching danger; and finally enabled him, serenely, to encounter the last enemy, and to triumph in the conflict with death and the grave.

" The end of the perfect and upright man," says the Psalmist, "is Peace." Of this truth a more illustrious exemplification has, perhaps, rarely been given since

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the days of inspiration were ended, than this excellent Person exhibited on his dying bed. The disease, to which he ultimately became a victim, was protracted to a considerable length; and was of such a nature, as to assure him, that its termination must be death. The approach of this enemy was, therefore, seen by him at a distance; and was seen to be certain, and regular in its advances. In the fullest exercise of his reason, he contemplated the awful object, as it must ever be contemplated by a wise man, with deep and solemn, but at the same time with remarkably serene and undisturbed, thought. He, who had raised him up for his service, and made him his own by the blood of the cross, and the SPIRIT of sanctification, forsook him not at this momentous period. Every day of his sickness, almost, brought with it its share of pain and suffering; and that, frequently intense, and sometimes extreme. Yet no day heard him utter a single murmur; or saw the tenor of his mind disturbed for a moment. His happy uniformity of character accompanied him to the last; except that he shone with clearer splendour, as he approached the evening of his life. Death, long and often realized, seemed familiar to him; and was robbed of its sting, and stripped of its terrors. Humble, but peaceful; submissive, but collected ; supported by an invisible hand; and trusting for salvation in a righteousness, not his own; he replied to an intimate friend, who suggested to him the reason for consolation and hope, furnished by the tenor of his life, " 0 Sir, I place no reliance there. If I have been enabled to do my duty, I was raised up for that purpose; and it is no ground of merit in me. But I have the fullest confidence in the satisfaction, which has been made. There I have always placed my hopes.

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It is that alone, which can render me secure. It is ample; it is full; and as free as full." From this source he derived his enviable composure; here he found the peace, which passeth all understanding.

His views of the future world were strong, bright and exulting; and he earnestly, but with the most patient submission, wished for the hour, which might terminate his residence in this. The scenes before him, he considered with intense emotions, as wonderful and glorious; and expressed his views concerning them in a manner. deeply affecting. Still, he was duly mindful of the objects which-he was about to leave behind him.*

To his family, severally, he gave his blessing with peculiar tenderness, and a solemnity, resembling that, which is found in the history of the Patriarch. "My dear children," said he, to this beloved circle, "if you have seen any thing in my life, wherein I have followed Christ, be ye followers of my example."

I have mentioned this excellent man as a Patriot. Well aware am I, that on this subject proof is superfluous. Still I cannot forbear rehearsing one of his dying supplications, in which this character was very honourably, as well as very affectingly, exhibited. Clasping his hands, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he cried

* It deserves to be remembered, that Governor Trumbull, amid the severe sufferings of his last sickness, mentioned, several times, with deep concern the melancholy and miserable death, which closed the miserable life of Thomas Paine; and ardently wished to find in some of his last expressions a hope of his acceptance beyond the grave. The reader cannot fail to perceive, in this fact, a strong resemblance to the spirit of Stephen, praying for his murderers; and to the spirit with which the Redeemer said, " Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

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with great fervour, "I beseech Almighty God to bless our dear Country; and to give the people Wisdom to choose the things that are for their peace. I implore the divine blessing upon this State;" a prayer, to which; it is hoped, every heart in this house will subjoin Amen.

Such, my Brethren, was the character of the mans whose death we this day so justly lament. How desirable was his Life! How distinguished even from that of most other excellent men. As a child of Adam, we cannot doubt, that he had many imperfections: but; as he appeared to the eyes of mankind, his character is unsullied with a spot in his private, and in his public life, he has left nothing in his history, which can occasion pain to his family, a blush to his friends, or regret to his country. Fair at first, it became regularly more and more fair unto the end.

How enviable was his death! Who, with such a confidence in the Redeemer, such a rational hope of forgiveness and, acceptance with God, such a delightful testimony of a good conscience, that he had lived to the glory of his Maker, and the good of his fellow men, would be unwilling to bid adieu to this sinful, suffering world? He died on the borders of three score years and ten. He died in the possession of all his usefulness. He died full of peace, and full of hope; with triumphant faith and evangelical exultation.

How copious and affecting a source of instruction is here presented to our view! How gracefully, and how honourably, did he adorn those relations, out of which grow domestic endearment, and domestic happiness! What a blessing to his own amiable family ! How persuasive and instructor! How edifying an example! How delightful, as well as how mournful, an object of their remembrance! How rich a blessing to his Country!

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How affecting a contrast to most of those, who have ruled mankind! The great body of these men have lived, only to gratify themselves, and to distress their fellow men. Their character has been merely that of wild beasts, prowling for prey. Intrigue, falsehood, fraud, and violence, have debased their administration; and pollution of every kind deformed their private life. Their career has been preceded by alarm and terror; announced by groans, and sighs, and tears; saddened by plunder and beggary; and shrouded by devastation and ruin. It has been crimsoned with blood; it has smoked with slaughter; it has been awfully illumined by the light of conflagration. Their death has been hailed as an aera of returning hope to mankind: and their departing spirits have been followed into the regions of invisible being by the united curses of a suffering world.

The path of this illustrious Man has, on the contrary, been a mere and delightful course of, benevolence and piety; a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day. Respect and love pursued his progress; joy brightened before him; and sorrow at his approach wiped her tears, and resumed her melancholy countenance, with returning smiles. His mourning Country followed his bier;. Affection and reverence surrounded his interment, and shed their tears on his grave. Hope with an animated aspect, and a kindling eye, pursued his flight into eternity; and with unutterable emotions beheld him enter the gates of immortality.

From this illustrious example what Ruler, what Christian, what Man, may not learn wisdom and worth? Were every Ruler to resemble him; the page of history would no longer be written in blood; nor the progress of time spread with sackcloth. His administration would every where diffuse joy; his example every where awaken, extend, and adorn; the religion, sent down from heaven. Were every Christian like him; Christianity would cease to be the object of contempt and obloquy; and compel by its native loveliness the veneration, and applause, even of its enemies. Were every Man to exhibit the same character; the world would cease to wear any longer its gross and gloomy aspect, be shorne of its thorns and briers, and assume once more the bloom, the fragrance, and the beauty, which once adorned the garden of God.

My Brethren, you have heard this imperfect exhibition of the character, so beautifully displayed by the Man, whose death has convened this assembly. The essential excellencies of this character may be transplanted into the life of every person present. The true use, to be made of this recital, is perfectly conveyed in our SAVIOUR’S application of the parable of the good Samaritan, - "Go ye, and do likewise."

PREACHED MAY 28, 1809,

NEW-JERSEY.

The text of this and other superb works are available on-line from:

The Willison Politics and Philosophy Resource Center

http://willisoncenter.com/

Reprint and digital file September 26, 2003.

Edward Dorr Griffin, (b. 1770, d. 1837) graduated Yale in 1790. At this writing, he was resigning as pastor in Newark, in order to fill a professorship at Andover seminary. He served as President, Williams College, 1821-36 and was instrumental in its preservation as a viable school.

Page numbers in the original appear in brackets as shown: [ 2 ]

The following begins the original text:

AND NOW, BRETHRFN, I COMMEND YOU TO GOD, AND TO THE WORD OF HIS GRACE, WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP, AND TO GIVE YOU AN INHERITANCE AMONG ALL THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED.

THIS was a part of Paul’s valedictory address to the elders of Ephesus. Animated with the love of Christ and of souls, this holy man had planted the gospel in the province of Asia, of which Ephesus was the chief city; and, for three years. had there poured his divine eloquence amidst the effusions of the Holy Ghost. He had often stood in the synagogue, and in the school of Tyrannus, while the Spirit of Jesus swayed and melted the whole assembly. In the house of God, and in the humble school-room, multitudes had begun their eternal song. He had begotten many spiritual children whom he loved as his own soul. Those scenes were past, those ties must all be broken ; the parting hour had come.

The blessed man had left Ephesus, and made an excursion into Greece. From Greece was now returning to Jerusalem, whence he foresaw what he should go to Rome and he expected to see his Ephesian converts no more. He could not sail by them without taking a last, a mournful leave. Touching, therefore, at Miletus, a city eight leagues to the South, he sent for the elders of Ephesus. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you, at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations which befel me by the lying in wait of the Jews. And now behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that

[ 3 ]

shall befal me there; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every :city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me......And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more..... And now, brethren, I commend you to God., and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified….And when be had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him; sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more."

Very different is the man who addresses you ; and very different is the occasion. But it is with emotions never before felt in your presence, that I stand here today. I am no longer your minister; and you are no longer the people of my pastoral charge. We are forever separated, until we meet at the bar of Christ; I to give an account of my ministry, and you to give an account of the manner in which you have received an embassy from God. What then, dear brethren, can I do for you the few short moments that I am permitted to stand among you ? What better., than to commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified?" To whom, or to what can an anxious minister choose rather to commend a dear people, lately his pastoral charge, in the solemn hour of parting... in the last accents with which he is ever to address them ?

Brethren, "I commend you to God". You will find Him a friend in need, a refuge in times of trouble. He has ‘‘been our dwelling place in all generations;" and He will live to protect His people when all the nations die. In His mercy and care... .in His power and faithfulness, you will find resources which will never fail. ‘‘ The Lord will be the hope of His people."

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By Him alone the counsel of peace was established. By Him alone the Church was erected, and, has been preserved to this time ; and by Him it will be preserved forever. The Church is the object of His tenderest love. ...the center of all His cares....His, most precious treasure. " The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." He has no employment so delightful to His heart as the protecton and care of His Church; and this He will never abandon. "Can a Woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. "I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight....I have loved thee; therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life." He would blot out all the nations, He would crush a thousand worlds, before one hair of her head should fall to the ground. The kingdoms of the nations shall fall; the earth itself shall be dissolved; "the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll ;"...but this kingdom shall stand forever.

To God then, I commend you. I commit you to His protecting arms ; I resign you to His faithful care. I lay down my pastoral office, and commend you to "the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." My ministry here is closed and now, O heavenly Father, I come before thee, and solemnly give back the charge which I received from thee. Be thou a Shepherd to this beloved flock! O let it be nourished in thy bosom when these limbs shall be cold in the grave

I have thus committed you to God. In His hands you are safe while you remain faithful. "The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye leek Him, He will be found of you but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you." This was the address of the prophet to the men of Judah, as they were returning from the slaughter of the Ethiopians... .as they were returning, with songs of triumph, from a scene of

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divine wonders....from the field of victory, where "one had chased a thousand, and two had put ten thousand to flight.*". And this is my address to you, as I meet you returning from a scene of equal wonders...from a field of equal triumph. You have seen what God can do for you while you cleave to Him. How to cleave to Him, His word alone must teach you. "To the word of His grace, therefore, I commend you."

I commend you to the hopes and consolations which that word presents. I commend you to the doctrines which that word contains ;....doctrines which, you have seen, have been "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." I commend you, especially, to the duties which that word inculcates..., Shall I remind you of some of those duties? The occasion does not indeed admit of a complete enumeration ; but it calls for a partial recital of those which appertain to you as a congregation.

For your own sake, and for your children’s sake, cherish and revere him whom you have chosen for your pastor. .Already he loves you; and he will soon love you as " bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh." It will be equally your duty and your interest to make his labours as pleasant to him as possible. Do not demand too much. Do not require visits too frequent. Should he spend, in this way, half of the time which some require, he must wholly neglect his studies, if not sink early under the burden. Do not report to him all the unkind things which may be said against him nor frequently, in his presence, allude to opposition, if opposition should arise. Though he is a minister of Christ, consider that he has the feelings of a man... Those talebearers who to ingratiate themselves with their minister, carry such things to his ear, that they may boast of the zeal with which they have defended him, are sure to excite disgust where they would conciliate esteem.

*II Chron. xv, 2.

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The success of the gospel among you will greatly depend on the preservation of harmony with your minister, and brotherly love, among yourselves. "Follow after the things which make for peace." You have been, for many years, so distinguished for the practice of this virtue, that I have the less need to press it upon your attention. I will only say, " Let brotherly love Continue."

Persevere in your attachment to the public worship of God. As often as the welcome light of that sacred morning shall return, which released our Lord from the sepulchre, hasten with your families to the sanctuary of God., where you have often seen His glory. Encourage your minister to preach by your eagerness to hear. Always remember that "the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob."

If you wish to be fed by your minister, by your prayers you must supply him with matter. If you wish his ministrations to be accompanied with saving efficacy to your children, your prayers must ensure the effect. I have reason to expect that yours will be that happy minister whose hands are held up by a praying people.

Continue in the practice of family religion. This inheritance of your fathers, preserve with pious care. Let not a house in this favoured town ever want a domestic altar, on which is offered the morning and evening sacrifice.

Nor can I forget those weekly associations for prayer and religious conference, in which we have enjoyed so many happy hours, and which God has so remarkably owned and blessed. Let them never be discontinued. Hand them down to the generations of the millennium ; and then they will be continued to the end of the world.

I have a few things to lay to the elders...the fathers of the church.

I Shall long remember, my dear brethren, the aid

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which I have received from you in conducting the affairs of God’s house; the harmony of our counsels ; and that tried fidelity on which I could always rely. I remember our common prayers, and our common tears, at those interesting examinations, when, in the affecting tones of piety and of nature, our new-born children told us what God had done for their souls. That joy to me is ended. To you, dear brethren, under God, I commit the interests of this beloved church, with all these future examinations, and all the cares of gospel discipline. That which we have held in common as a precious estate, I now resign wholly to you. Exercise, I beseech you, the tenderest care over it. If you neglect a church so dear to Christ...but you will not neglect it, dear brethren;. I know you well.

It may not, however, be improper to " stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance....Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock." Never lose sight of the importance of preserving the purity and discipline of the church. Your past fidelity in this matter has, I doubt not, been intimately connected with those spiritual blessings which have been profusely shed upon the congregation. " Be not weary in well doing." Guard the avenues of the church against the approach of unhallowed feet. "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs." Let not the sacramental water be profaned. Give not the symbols of divine peace to the acknowledged enemies of God, nor the badge of citizenship to those who are aliens from the common wealth of Israel. It has been said that, this line of separation between the clean and the unclean, will drive men from our churches. But this church is among the many monuments erected by heaven to repel such a reproach. It is the largest church, perhaps, in our country; and in few congregations have an equal number of children been baptized. Do you ask the reason of this ? One reason is found in that fundamental principle of the kingdom of Christ;

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Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life, for my sake; shall find it."

There is one more subject, brethren, to which I wish to call your attention I mean the pains which ought to be taken with baptized children. This is, I believe, the only matter in which the churches are agreed that something ought to be done, while, with equal unanimity, they practically agree to do nothing. Is there not a fault here ? If all the baptized children of a congregation were collected together, two or three times a year, under the eye and authority of the church, and there examined, instructed, reminded of their obligation , and solemnly exhorted to early piety, might not the effect be great? Something of this kind I should have attempted, had not every plan been deranged by that course of events which has issued in our separation.

On none of these topics do I with to enlarge, and others I am willing to pass over in silence, on account of the entire confidence which I have in my belayed brother, under whose pastoral card you are soon to be placed.-

On such an occasion I might excused from remarks of a more private and particular application. But such is the interest which I feel in the younger members of the church, that I cannot take a final leave of them without suggesting some hints of this nature.

You have, my beloved friends, entered upon a delightful service, under a master most generous and faithful, with a reward in view glorious, and eternal. But inexperienced as you are, and with so many difficulties and dangers before you, it is natural for a pastor who loves you, and is on the point of leaving you thus exposed, to feel some tender and melancholy solicitudes about you.

You have set off from Egypt with your faces towards Canaan. You have sung out your song upon the banks of the sea; and now you must address yourselves to the trials of the wilderness. Long regions

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of trackless desert lie between you and the land of promise. Many a weary day must you wander, before the delectable mountains of Canaan will lift their heads to your view. Many a foe will assault, and many a serpent will sting before your wanderings end. But you will not measure over the Wilderness alone. The Angel who was imbosomed in the pillar of cloud and of fire, will go before you. He who contains in His person all the virtues prefigured by the brazen serpent, will be ready with His healing power, when the stings of sin enter your fouls. The Captain of the Lord’s host, under the wavings of whose blood-stained banner you are marching against earth and hell....are marching to break through embattled worlds to reach the heavenly city....He will stand with you in the day of battle. Only do not grieve Him. "Beware of Him, and obey His voice; provoke Him not, for the name of the Lord is in Him." Much care and circumspection will be necessary on your part. There is a great work before you: you must run, and wrestle, and fight, and endure hardness af good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Some few directions for your conduct, then, may not be unimportant. Treasure them up, as though they were my dying advice. Review them in future years, and hold them sacred as the legacy of One that loved you.

First, then my dear friends, strive to obtain a deep and discriminating knowledge of God. Rest not contented with that superficial religion which is ignorant, and proud, and burns only with the fervours of animal affections. Strive after advancement in solid,-judicious, humble piety. In order to this, be daily conversant with your closets. As soon as you forsake your closets, God will forsake you. Let no day pass without reading some devotional piece, however short. Set apart stated seasons for self-examination and meditation. Learn thus to live at home, and you will have a refuge from all the storms of life. Let it be the occupation of your lives to commune with God. For this purpose, remember what stress our Saviour laid upon

[ 10 ]

watchfulness. Watchfulness is as necessary to your safety, .as prayer is to your life. You must watch the operations of your own -hearts ; you must watch the approaches of a subtle adversary; and it is not the least part of vigilance to watch the motions of the divine Spirit. Settle it in your minds every morning that the chief business of the day is to make advances towards heaven. Never forget that you are on a journey, and that this is not your home. Never forget that the chief end for which you were sent into the world, was to prepare to enjoy and glorify God in heaven. Be this preparation, then, your chief employment... The central object around which all other objects shall revolve. -

Would you find a religious life either easy or happy, you must be earnestly devoted to it. In spiritual, as in temporal; matters, the man who keeps his accounts in disorder, and his business behind him, has harder work, and finds less accomplished. It is easier to keep the enemy at a dist0ance, than to dislodge him when he ‘as entered your citadel. And the christian who lives above the world, and walks with God, has easier work than the christian who carries the world in his heart, and fights it there.

This, too, is the only way to enjoy religion. Some men seem to have just religion enough to make them wretched enough to spoil the world, but not enough to draw comfort from God ; enough to make conscience sensible to the things of guilt, but not enough to relieve it’s anguish by the application of the blood of Christ. Be you either unwavering atheists, or decided christans.

Beware of those objects that would draw your hearts from God. Avoid unnecessary connexions with worldly men. Some intercourse with them, unless you would go out of the world, cannot be avoided but ensnaring intimacies are not necessary. Choose your friends among those whose faith will animate, whose love will warm, whose counsels, prudence, and prayers, will help you forward towards heaven.

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Beware of an undue attachment to the things of the world. To be industrious in some lawful calling; is your indispensable duty. But so addicted is the heart to idols, that dangers lie concealed in every department of business. Every thing which interests the heart, has power to draw it away. But wo to the christian who, for one day forsakes the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns. No one can foresee what wounds he may receive in a few short hours of wandering. If you ever lose your present relish for religion, and get plunged into months of darkness, or years of gloom, it will be because the world has seduced you from God. Men do not wander from God without an object. They go in pursuit of idols. Indolence may do something, but Idolatry does more. Indolence may let a Saviour go; but idolatry runs from Him. Avoid indolence; but beware, beware of idolatry.

These hints, though specially intended for the younger part of the church, are affectionately recommended. Also to the attention of my elder brethren and fathers. I hope that they may be acceptable and useful to you all.

Thus, brethren, I have briefly "commended you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

My work is now fast drawing to a close. When the light of another morning gilds the east, I leave you, to go into a land of strangers, not knowing the things that shall1 befal me there. A thousand tender recollections are awakened at the thought. For almost eight years I have been with you in fear, and in much weakness, with many tears and temptations. I have seen some of you in affliction. I have stood with you in the chambers of sickness. I have walked with you into the field of graves. Scenes of everlasting interest have passed before us since we have been together. I have seen you in the house of God, when the Spirit of Jesus moved the assembly as the trees of the wood are moved by a mighty wind, I have seen many of

[ 12 ]

you trembling on the borders of eternal wo, when there seemed but a step between you and death. I have seen some of you open your eyes on a heaven revealed, and have heard you begin your immortal long. I have seen the tears of parental joy, while the children in the temple have sung, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ! hosanna in the highest !"

These seasons are past and gone, never to return ; but they cannot be forgotten.

Eight years ago this church consisted of 202 members, of whom 146 still remain. We have since admitted 434 to our communion, of whom 376 fill remain. Of those whom we have admitted, 62 were received from other churches, and 372 from the world. Of the latter, we admitted 113 in one year, and, at another time, 174 in six months. All the members which have belonged to this church, within that period, amount to 636 ; of whom 114 have, in various

ways, been removed ; and still remain.

This number, I trust, will not decrease. I believe that God has greater things in reserve, at no great distance, for our American Church. While He is breaking those kingdoms which have given ‘‘ their power and strength unto the beast," He is ‘‘nourishing the woman— fled hither into the wilderness." On this continent, which was discovered by the light of the Reformation, He seems to have opened an asylum for His Church, while He is accomplishing His dreadful predictions upon mystical Babylon. Else, what mean these extensive revivals of religion, greater in power and purity than have been known since the apostolic age ? What mean those noble efforts for the cause of truth, in which the different sections of the American Church are uniting, with a zeal unknown before ? And why is Satan’s rage so violent, but because he knows that his time is short ? May we not hope, then, that the darkest time with us is past ; that while, in the old world tempests of wrath are sweeping away all the

[ 13 ]

ancient landmarks of society, in this corner of the earth the sound of the distant storm may die upon our ear ; and that here, under a brighter sky, " Zion may arise and rejoice, because her light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon her ?"

In all these blessings you, my brethren, will, I trust, have a part. I trust that Jesus will again and again walk these streets with power and great glory ; and that those children, who, by their early piety, have filled their parents' hearts with joy, will, in their turn, rejoice, with equal transport, over a new—born offspring. Should I live to bear this account from you, how would my heart throb with desire to come and see the repeated triumphs of Immanuel on ground endeared by so many tender recollections ! I will anticipate the joy, and it shall gladden the hour of parting.

Yes, my brethren, I am persuaded that God has blessings in store for you. As a congregation you have not forfeited your privileges; and they will not be taken from you. That which you esteem a loss, will he more than made up in him whom, by a happy unanimity, you leave chosen for my successor. It is a great satisfaction to me that I can leave you to the care of such a pastor. I pray that his connexion with you may be long and happy; and that at last he may present many of you, and of your children, before the throne of glory, and say, with unspeakable joy, " Behold, I, and the children which God hath given-me !‘‘

I had hoped to be permitted to go hand in hand with you to the grave, to attend some of my brethren in their chambers of death, to die at last in your arms, to be buried among my dear church, and to rise with them in the resurrection. One year ago I thought that nothing but death could divide us. But God had a different purpose. By evident indications of His will, He has pointed me to another part of the vineyard. His hand has manifestly shaped all the circumstances of this separation. You have seen it, and owned it, and submitted to it, with a spirit of meekness which

[ 14 ]

has done honor to your profession, and to that work of divine grace which has gladdened the churches of our Lord. Through the whole of this trial you have given me no other reproaches but your tears. I thank God, and I thank you, that we part in love.

I thank you, also, for all the affection and respect with which you have treated me during the whole period of our connexion. From you as a congregation, I have never received a single instance of unkindness. On the contrary, you have protected me when I have been assailed. You have spread y6urfelves before me as a shield. You have carried me in your arms to the throne of grace. There you have stood and wrestled with tears, and would not be denied. If I forget this kindness, " let my right hand forget her cunning !" I doubt not that it was by means of your prayers that I have been sustained under every trial, and have been enabled to triumph over every difficulty. In return, may the best of heaven’s blessings rest on you, and on your children, and on your children’s children, to the latest posterity.

When my mind turns to another view of my ministry, it is filled with solemnity and awe. That ministry will affect every one of you to all eternity. Every action which we perform….every spiritual privilege which we enjoy, extends its influence to eternal ages. Many have already gone from their seats in this house, within the period of eight years, to feel the everlasting effects of a preached gospel. Some of them, I trust, are now in heaven, contemplating the glory of the doctrines which they heard, and praising God for the displays of his grace in our assemblies. Others, I fear, have gone from streets consecrated by the impress of a Saviour’s feet, to feel the dreadful conviction of truths which they opposed, and to mourn at the remembrance of privileges which they slighted. O that some of my living hearers were pressing forward to the same end ! But when I look around on this assembly, mine eye affected my heart. I perceive many left

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out of the church whom I had hoped to see " planted in the house of the Lord." Alas ! must I go away and leave you out among the world ? Why is it so ? Is it because you have not been entreated with tears ? Is it because you have not been remembered in the midnight hour ? God is witness. But all the prayers that have been made for you, and to you, have not availed. I came to you with a message from God… I have delivered it…I am now departing; and you have not obeyed the message. I came with hopes to do you good ; but some of you, I fear, I shall only be the means of sinking lower in hell. O my God ! must this be my unhappy instrumentality! Why was I born for this! I have not desired the woful day, thou knowest….My poor, dying hearers, make me not a witness against you in that tremendous hour which is to decide the destinies of men. O spare me in this thing! Force not these ears to hear you crying to rocks and mountains to cover you, and cursing the day that you ever saw your minister’s face. I beg and beseech you. I plead with you as though I were pleading for my own life. By all the concern which this solemn hour awakens; by all the future agonies of a ruined soul ; by all the terrors of that day which will quench the sun, and shake the world to atoms, and pour the omnipotence of God upon every eye, and more than all, by the compassions of Christ, I beseech you to spare me....spare yourselves. Some of you will go to the land of silence before I visit you again, and will see my face no more....will hear my voice no more. For the last time, then, I entreat you, I charge you in the name of the everliving God not to draw me into judgement against you....not to let me hear you mourn at the last, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction,, and my heart despised reproof!

God has given me spiritual children here. These must receive my parting blessing. But here my heart begins to fail me. If the gospel, which has proceeded from lips unworthy to proclaim it, has been blessed

more. God Almighty comfort you, my children, and wipe all your tears away.

I look forward, with pleasing anticipations, to the time when some of you will be distinguished among the most beautiful pillars of the church. But I shall not be with you. I shall be withdrawn to another part of the vineyard, to endure the toils and trials which God shall there appoint. But let me still live in your remembrance and prayers. In future years, when wide regions divide us, if any tenderness should be awakened by the recollection of one who loved you much, and once was not an alien from your hearts, let it carry you to your closets, and vent itself in one prayer that shall strengthen him in a strange land. And when, in some later day, you shall hear that the tongue which now addresses you has ceased to move, and the heart which has loved you is still in death,…when a few friends shall have performed the last office for this worthless body, and the cold turf shall lie heavy on this breast,..you then will utter one sigh, and drop one tear, for him who bore you in his heart to the grave.

And now the last moment has come. Wiith emotions not to be expressed, I bid you all a long, a last farewell. Farewell…forever. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

AN

ORATION,

PRONOUNCED AT

TEMPLE, (N.H.)

IN COMMEMORATION

OF

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,

BEFORE

THE INHABITANTS OF

TEMPLE, NEW-IPWICH, PETERBOROUGH, AND WILTON,

AT

THEIR UNITED CELEBRATION,JULY 4, 1809.

************

BY SOLOMON KIDDER LIVERMORE ATTORNEY AT LAW

Harvard: 1802

*************

AMHEARST, N.H. PRINTED BY JOSEPH CUSHING

1809

REPRINTED BY THEOPHILUS, 1999

Temple, July 4, 1809

S.K. LIVERMORE, ESQ.

Sir,

WE wait on you to present the thanks of the audience for your candid and patriotic Oration, delivered this day, and to request a copy for the press.

EBENEZER EDWARDS, President.

BENJ. CHAMPNEY, Vice-President

*************

Ebenezer Edwards, and Esquires.

Benjamin Champney,

Gentlemen,

AT your request I submit the following copy of my performance of this day to your disposal, and to the candor of the public. I pray you, gentlemen, accept assurance of my high respect.

S. K. LIVERMORE.

TEMPLE, JULY 4, 1809.

ORATION.

********

Let this day be sacred to liberty. Let joy irradiate every countenance. Let the flame of patriotism ascend from every heart. Let jealousy, malevolence, and discordant passions be banished. Let friendship and philanthropy predominate in every breast. Let virtue and social harmony preside over our conviviality.

We are assembled, my respected fellow citizens, not to shout reluctant wishes of long life to a usurper, nor to offer servile devoirs at the levee of a despot. No sceptered tyrant is enthroned in our land. No engines of war hurl destruction to our cities. No hostile armies display their banners over the face of our beloved country. No conquering sword drinks the blood of our fathers, our brethren, and our friends. The verdure of our hills and the luxuriance of our vallies is unsullied by trampling of horses, caparisoned for battle. Our flocks and herds range the mountains in safety, and fall not before a rapacious soldiery. The husbandman ploughs in peace, and reaps the rewards of industry. Clouds, that lately gathered blackness over our heads, are dispersed. Error appears in retrogradation, While truth advances. Anarchy, which lately appeared with hideous aspect in our frontiers, and like ancient wizards "peeped and muttered," seeks oblivion. Justice, although sometimes reproached and threatened and buffeted, serenely sits, and holds her equal balance.

Surrounded by the smiles of nature, cheered by returning prosperity, blessed by heaven's benignity; it is laudable to turn aside from our private business to keep this festival. Thirty three years has this anniversary been considered by the people of the United States of America, as their great national jubilee. Millions have assembled at the festive board. By millions have gratulatory songs been sung. Illuminations have dispelled the darkness of night. By thundering artillery and shouts of exultation have the joy and gratitude of Americans for emancipation from arbitrary power been reported to the skies.

We commemorate "the times that tried men's souls;" the conflicts, the ardor, and the magnanimity of patriots; the fortitude and achievements of heroes; the breaking of tyranny's yoke; and the triumph of Liberty. Let us contemplate the past and present conditions of our country, and her future prospects. May this celebration animate our love, and stimulate our exertions to promote her prosperity.

A few fleeting years have passed away, since forests

covered our fields, and the places of our habitations were haunts for wild beasts and retreats for uncivilized man. Our fathers, oppressed by power and scourged by superstition, sought refuge in the wilds of America. THEY SAW THE LAND THAT IT WAS PLEASANT, AND BOWED THEIR SHOULDER TO BEAR fatigue and hunger and watching and nakedness. They encountered perils of the deep, perils in the wilderness, and perils among barbarians. But "their bow abode in strength." Forests bowed, wild beasts became their prey. Barbarous tribes retreated before them. THE WILDERNESS AND SOLITARY PLACES REJOICED AND BLOSSOMED LIKE THE ROSE. THE LAND OF THEIR PILGRIMAGE BECAME LIKE A WELL WATERED GARDEN AND LIKE A FIELD, WHICH JEHOVAH HAD BLESSED. Commerce joined with agriculture to augment their wealth. The arts and sciences flourished. Civil and religious liberty crowned their exertions.

While these United States were colonies, they acknowledged Great Britain, as their parent, and yielded to her filial obedience. But Great Britain divested herself of natural affection. She seemed to envy her children's prosperity. IT A SON ASK BREAD OF A FATHER, WILL HE GIVE HIM A STONE? IF HE ASK A FISH, WILL HE GIVE HIM A SERPENT? Yes. Great Britain snatched from her children's mouths the bread, they had earned, and sent serpents, to bite and devour them. Treated like slaves, not like children, they remonstrated, but in vain. They committed their cause to him, WHO JUDGETH RIGHTEOUSLY, and on the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, solemnly disclaimed allegiance tom their parent, asserted their right of self government, and declared themselves free, sovereign and independent.

Shall we spend time to recount the interesting events

of that period? Shall the speaker attempt to delineate before you, whose gray hairs testify that ye have seen the lapse of many years, scenes, that never can be effaced from your memories? He would rather REFRAIN FROM TALKING, LAY HIS HAND UPON THY MOUTH, AND LISTEN, WHILE YE SPEAK. Ye felt your country's wrongs, and participated her remonstrances. Ye took weapons of war and marched to the contest. Ye saw the "tented field and bloody arena." Ye beheld, when the mighty fell; when the ruthless sword made widows and fatherless; when many on the verge of life tottered, mournful, to their exit, having bid a last, a sad adieu to the hope, the joy, the staff, of their declining years. Ye heard the "confused noise" of battles; dying groans and shouts of victory. Ye rejoiced in your country's joy at the acquisition of independence, and returning peace.

Do your ardent minds, my coevals, thirst for knowledge of the sentiments and transactions of those days? Consult history. Repair to the tombs and monuments of your fathers. There you may learn what states-men were pre-eminent; what heroes bled in vindication of their injured country. The war-torn soldier will recount his marches, his retreats, his rencounters, his dangers and his escapes. Recollecting the wounds, he received, while inspired with intrepidity by the beloved chief, whose memory is dear to every American; his mind will be inflamed with enthusiasm. Forgetting his infirmities, he will assume the vigor and activity of youth. That you may learn how cities are won, the enemy repulsed, and victory obtained; he will fight" his battles o'er again, and thrice" will slay "the slain."

If ever public spirit generally prevailed in the United States, it was during the revolutionary war and at its close. Having acquired independence, it was essential to their prosperity, and indispensable to their honor to establish a government, which would secure enjoyment of those inestimable privileges, for acquisition of which, they had with unexampled firmness accomplished a most arduous warfare. In political deliberations the most selfish scarcely dared to manifest sinister motives. The united energies of wisdom and virtue were called upon to frame a constitution. Ancient republics had vanished. Existing governments were despotic, monarchic, or aristocratic. Of all, then extant, the government of Great Britain approached nearest to freedom. From that the United States copied a form with improvements. Having adopted a constitution, to whom should the people entrust its administration? To its enemies? It had open and avowed enemies. Does the shepherd commit his fold to the care of wolves? Does the husbandman set swine to guard his fields? Does the citizen kindle a fire on his house top to prevent a conflagration? To appoint men to administer a government, who are in principle or practice hostile to its system or institutions, would be equally incongruous. The people were not then chargeable to such absurdity. Their eyes were directed to those, whose ability, fidelity, public services, and undeviating adherance to republican principles had rendered them worthy of confidence. These could not be hid. Their lustre had

shone not under a bushel, nor under a bed, nor in a corner, nor in a cave; but as on a candlestick. Their fellow citizens had seen their light, and rejoiced in its radiance. In the first exercise of the elective franchise subsequent to the adoption of the constitution the people, unbiassed by prejudice or misrepresentation, manifested soundness of judgement, and correctness and consistency of conduct. The CHOSEN were also TRIED AND FAITHFUL.

From Washington's first accession to the chief

magistracy till near the close of Adams' administration, the administrators adheared to a uniform, wise, and beneficial policy. Public utility was their object. The constitution they viewed, as an inviolable barrier against encroachments upon the people's rights. Of the "full tide" of success in our experiments of republicanism, our internal prosperity and advantages foreign intercourse; our peace at home and respectability abroad, were plenary evidences.

But from the beginning of Washington's presidency there was a gradually increasing opposition to the prevailing policy, till, at the close of Adams' administration, a great change had taken place in the politics of the nation. To trace the source and instruments of this change would appear to some invidious, and we think is inexpedient. Jefferson was promoted to the chair of State. In the exultation of popular favor he declared that we were" in the full tide of successful experiment; at peace at home and respected abroad." But Jefferson and his adherents adopted a new policy different from the former. They tried new experiments. Whether equally successful, equally advantageous and honorable to the nation with those of their predecessors, perhaps hereafter, when party spirit shall have subsided, we may more safely judge. Future historians will do justice to the subject. "Jefferson's administration has passed away," and his policy seems to be not far in the rear. He has retired from public life. We wish that his reflections in retirement may be profitable to himself, and, if possible, useful to his country.

We come not here to criminate any individual nor any

political party. Already has it marred much of our happiness. From this have originated great public inconveniences, and private animosity. It has interrupted the harmony of families and neighborhoods, estranged brethren from each other, and turned love into hatred. By its influence we have seen public disorganizers elevated to stations of the highest responsibility. The most faithful public servants, whose lives were devoted to their country, have been deprived of scanty subsistence, derived from emoluments of offices, to make room for men, whose only merit is their obsequiousness and activity in the service of their aspiring patrons. The veteran soldier, who bled for his country, and whose scars are honorable tokens of his valor, has been reproached with want of patriotism, and attachment to a foreign nation by those, whose public spirit never extended beyond their flocks and herds, their threshing floors and their cider presses. An Adams has been stigmatized by the appellation of hoary headed incendiary. A Washington--O ingratitude, where is thy remorse? "O shame, where is thy blush?"--A Washington has been pronounced a traitor and a monarchist. "My brethren these things ought not to be so."

It is time to abandon party names, party distinctions, and party contests. Who are wise? Who are virtuous? WHO ARE HONEST? WHO ARE CAPABLE? WHO ARE FAITHFUL? Select such only, to be invested with authority. Do we acknowledge governments of men? or of laws? If of men, our constitutions are of no validity. We are governed by caprice and submit to arbitrary power. If of laws, our constitutions ought to be the criteria of our animadversions upon public functionaries. Our constitutions are the primary laws of the land. They are indeed our governments. If we oppose rulers, who exercise legitimate authority only; if we counteract wise and just laws, sanctioned by the constitutions; we thereby oppose government, and are worthy of censure, as disorganizers and enemies to our country. But if we oppose rulers, who acknowledge no law but their own whims or caprice, and who transgress legitimate authority; if we oppose laws, repugnant to the constitutions, impolitic and unjust; we thereby support government, and merit approbation, as friends of order, and advocates of republicanism.

We ought to guard against the doctrine, sedulously

inculcated by some, that it is always expedient for administrators of the state governments to coincide and co-operate with those of the national government. The independence of each state is recognised by the national constitution. National rulers may sometimes wilfully or inadvertently adopt measures, oppressive to an individual state, and subversive of its most essential rights. Should that state then forbear ever to remonstrate? Under the influence of strange infatuation the people may elect rulers void of honesty or mental energy, who, actuated by love or fear of a foreign power, or by ambitious views of personal aggrandizement, may endanger the peace, prosperity, and honor of the nation. If this ever happen, a minority of the states might possibly by dignified and determined opposition to such rulers, effect a change in their policy, rescue the union from dissolution, and the nation from ruin.

After a long, "unprofitable contest" between parties, a President is elected, of whose wisdom and fidelity in office, we entertain sanguine hopes. Of his talents and political acquirements none, acquainted with his character, will doubt. Of the constitution at the time of its adoption he was a powerful advocate. If he has subsequently deviated from its principles; if he has entertained chimerical theories; if he has favored erroneous policy, we hope that from experience he has derived salutary knowledge. He has had sufficient opportunity to learn that national strength is essential to national safety; that foreign belligerents will not be induced by dictates of justice only to respect neutral rights; that to prevent insults, aggressions, and outrages, we should be prepared to repel them. He has begun well. IF HE DOETH WELL, SHALL HE NOT BE ACCEPTED? May the United States under his auspices be blessed by returning unanimity.

Wisdom and virtue, diffusion of knowledge, and acquaintance with civil polity, are absolutely necessary to perpetuity of elective governments. Under the influence of these, people will not give their suffrages to promote the ignorant, the unstable, or the profligate. Rulers will diligently and faithfully perform their incumbent duties, knowing that their constituents are capable of discerning good and evil. If "the powers that be" violate the fundamental laws of the land; if they arbitrarily and wantonly "infract" the inalienable rights of the people; if they are impious and licentious; if they confer honours and emoluments upon the unworthy; how can they be RESPECTED AS God’S MINISTERS, ORDAINED BY HIM FOR GOOD? TO BE A TERROR, NOT TO GOOD WORKS, BUT TO THE EVIL; TO BEAR THE SWORD NOT IN VAIN, BUT TO EXECUTE WRATH UPON EVIL DOERS. Vice and ignorance are baneful to all communities, and especially to republics. These generate disorder, insubordination, confusion, and anarchy; till despotism with iron sway quiets the tumult of the people.

To restrain turbulence and corruption and lust, whence wars and fightings and dissolution to the bonds of society arise; to inspire brotherly love and unanimity, benevolence and justice, patriotism and philanthropy, religion is of primary efficacy. That persuasion of its divinity; that its benign power may be unlimited; to you, ministers of the gospel, we look for instruction in its sublime truths, and for examples of sobriety and godliness. As heralds of the Redeemer, "servants of the most high God," soldiers of the King of glory, we revere your characters. We bow before the conqueror, under whose banner ye fight. We venerate the wisdom, whose precepts ye inculcate. This is the celestial wisdom, by which KINGS REIGN AND PRINCES DECREE JUSTICE, by which NOBLES RULE, YEA ALL THE JUDGES OF THE EARTH. We would not forget your WORKS OF PATIENCE AND LABORS OF LOVE. We would not forget the magnamimity and public services of the clergy at the illustrious era of our emancipation. It was not then deemed derogatory from the clerical character for those, THE WEAPONS OF WHOSE WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL, BUT SPIRITUAL, to speak in freedom's cause. WHAT CAREFULNESS, YEA WHAT INDIGNATION, YEA WHAT ZEAL, did their exhortations, and their admonitions produce? Who can forget that ornament of the christian character, that pious instructor of our infancy, that exemplary companion of our maturity, that follower of the Lamb of God, whose venerable presence we lately anticipated in this assembly? whom his Lord and Master has called to banquets of celestial freedom.(The Rev. Stephen Farrar, of New-Ipswich died suddenly a few days previous to this celebration.) May this people, among whom have shone the resplendent beams of reason and revelation, never MAKE OBESIANCE to infidel, idolatrous, atheistical or multi-theistical rulers, who, like the apostate Joash, would cause to be stoned the sons of their benefactors, bold reprovers of the obiquities and aberrations of wandering stars.

FELLOW-CITIZENS IN ARMS,--We celebrate the deeds of warriors, who fought, bled, and conquered. Reflecting upon the virtue and courage and perseverance of your military fathers, do not your breasts glow with enthusiastic admiration? At your country's call what man of you would not with martial ardor hasten to her defence? While eager to be distinguished for prowess, no soldier should neglect his duties and privileges, as a citizen. By careful attention to these, necessity of an appeal to arms may be prevented. Military should always be subject to civil authority. When the former gains ascendency over the latter, liberty will " expire in a convulsion." A well organized militia, regulated and controlled by the civil arm, is the legitimate defence of a republic. It is her glory to unite in one the citizen and the soldier. Remember your illustrious exemplar. While invincible in arms he did not disclaim amenability to his fellow citizens. Though his country's father, having led her armies to victory and renown, he laid his laurels at her feet, and became as one of her sons.

DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA,--In you our hearts are deeply interested. Every day witnesses your ascendency over them. From your influence society may derive inestimable blessings. It is peculiarly your province to cultivate infant minds and to implant fist principles. Germs, inserted in early life, will flourish in manhood, and bear fruit in old age. If you exhibit examples of virtue and piety; if you discountenance immorality and irreligion; who would not become virtuous and religious? From such examples even the unprincipled cannot withhold respect. Will you smile upon the licentious? Will you wink at impiety? Will you bestow your hearts upon atheists? CAST THEN YOUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE. THEY SHALL TRAMPLE THEM UNDER THEIR FEET, AND TURN AND REND YOU.

When we contemplate the nations of Europe, drinking THE CUP OF FURY, our hearts bleed for their calamities. The scourge of God has gone abroad to chastise them. Their fields have become ACELDEMAS. THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND FAINT. THE SHIELDS OF THE MIGHTY ARE VILELY CAST AWAY. With peculiar sympathy we deplore the fate of spain. But is not the justice of heaven even there displayed? Is not that nation suffering punishment for national crimes? Has not its character been stained by blood and violence? Witness the papal inquisition, and the conquest of South America. The spanish nation waxed powerful, wealthy, and luxurious, by spoils unjustly taken. THEY HAVE CONDEMNED AND KILLED THE JUST. THEY HAVE NOURISHED THEIR HEARTS AS IN A DAY OF SLAUGHTER. BEHOLD, THE TREASURES OF PERU AND MEXICO HAVE CRIED, AND THE CRIES OF THE MEXICANS AND PERUVIANS HAVE ENTERED TO THE EARS OF THE SABAOTH.

Although "Jehovah hath sent the rod of his anger and the staff of his indignation" against nations and kingdoms and empires, "to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets;" Bonaparte "meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so. It is in his heart to destroy, to cut off," and to tyrannise over "nations not a few. For he saith, are not my princes altogether kings? Shall I not, as I have done to " Europe and her governments, "so do" to America and her government? "Therefore when Jehovah shall have accomplished his whole work upon "the nations of the earth." may we expect that he "will punish the fruit of the stout heart of " Napoleon , "and the glory of his high looks? For hr saith, by the strength of my hand have I done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man." What further work of vengeance is to be performed by the conqueror time will develop. Great Britain only has successfully resisted his power and artifice. At present we rejoice in her strength, because we believe it an effectual barrier against invasion of our country by the armies of Napoleon. But how long shall we confide for protection in the British navy? This may prove to us "the staff of a broken reed." When nations have arrived at their zenith of grandeur, they remain not long stationary. Declension soon succeeds. Long has Great Britain flourished in power and magnificence. But her fall may be near. "She saith I shall be a lady forever. I shall not sit a widow; neither shall I know the loss of children."

But "in a moment, in one day," she may experience "the loss of children and widowhood." At the demise of her present king a change may take place in the policy of her government, which will facilitate her subjugation.

Separate from the turmoils of Europe, possessing peace and leisure to "manage our affairs in our own way," having none to molest us; ought we not to occupy this propitious opportunity in strengthening our nation, and in preparing for self defence? The omnipotent can indeed save us. But he usually saves by means. If we neglect the ample means of self-preservation, placed within our reach, we have no right to expect his aid. Is it not stupid beyond measure to depend for safety upon the contingency of European wars? Peace in Europe, or conquest of Great Britain might expose us to mighty assailants. The republic calls upon every man to lay down the weapons of domestic dissention, to invest himself with the "armor of righteousness," the armor of his country's love, both on the right hand and on the left, and with vigilance to guard against foreign influence, foreign insults, and foreign usurpations.--But if we turn away our ears; if we exercise our art, our wit, and our sapience, to reproach and calumniate, to "bite and devour one another;" IF WE HAVE BITTER ENVYINGS AND STRIFE IN OUR HEARTS; LET US NOT GLORY; LET US NOT LIE AGAINST THE TRUTH; FOR WE ARE NOT VIRTUOUS; WE ARE NOT PATRIOTIC.

If by love or fear of any foreign power, by false ecomomy, or by injudicious security, we suffer ourselves to be deluded, and betrayed into the grasp of the potent robber of the world; if by intrigues and cabals and intemperance and tumults and insurrections we cause the republic to become like a tempestuous ocean, till the troubled waves subside into the sullen calm of despotism; if for momentary honor, or emolument, or applause, or popularity; if for a discordant song, composed by ambition and sung by infatuation, we vend our dearly purchased privileges; we shall be more inexcusable than ESAU, WHO SOLD HIS BIRTH RIGHT FOR A LITTLE POTTAGE, A MORSEL OF MEAT. This anniversary, this festival, this jubilee, this day of rejoicing and shouting, will become a day of shame and humiliation and fasting and mourning and useless lamentation. Spirits of departed worthies will blush to own their descendants. Ere such degradation may the seventh angel sound his trumpet.

Man is prone to error. Change is inscribed on all human systems. Public opinion is extremely versatile. Pride, ambition, envy, love of flattery, and inclination to rule, are inherent in human nature. Ingratitude to benefactors, although most odious, is very common. It has been considered in republics a notoriously prevailing, popular vice. Propensity to listen to slander, and to attribute good actions to unworthy motives, is too much indulged. How apt we are to countenance, enforce, and propagate suggestions of sinister motives for the most disinterested acts of our competitors? How apt are we to accuse our political opponents of stupidity; of hypocrisy and falsehood; of schemes to ensnare, to oppress, and to subjugate? As apt are we to listen with full credence and fond complacency to those, who profess to be devoted wholly to our service; especially of they accompany their professions with a little luscious flattery of our acute discernments, unconquerable virtue, enlightened understanding, and profound judgement. The grossest digressions of our favorites we readily attribute to veniable misconception; to errors of the head, not of the heart; we deem them sufficiently excused by reflecting that in man's present state perfection is not attainable. These errors, passions and propensities, corrode the stamina of republics, and produce their dissolution. So universally, and so fatally have they existed in free states, that wise politicians deem it impossible to eradicate them, or to check their growth, so as to prevent their eventual fatality.

Having in view the rocks and whirlpools, where others have been wreaked and overwhelmed, let us make one effort to shun them. By the memory of heroes and statesmen who sleep; by respect for those, who are not yet divested of mortality; by regard for posterity, with whom our examples will live, when we are dead; by the glorious and animating prospect of a people, numerous as the stars of heaven, inhabiting this vast territory, and uniting their energies to disseminate universal happiness, let us be induced to discard every sentiment, and every motive incompatible with man's primeval excellence. Let us bring back the glory and dignity and felicity, which have departed. May the year now commenced, be distinguished in the annals of these United States by expulsion of error and discord, and restoration of truth and unanimity. May this beauteous heritage descend unincumbered from generation to generation till the end of time. Then will the history of our republic be worthy to be read with admiration in journals of angels.

********

A

DELIVERED

OF THE

MAY 31, 1809

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BY

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN MEDFORD.

(With an appendix of sermons preached starting from 1631)

FROM THE PRESS OF

RUSSELL & CUTLER, PRINTERS 1809

REPRINTED BY THEOPHILUS

1999

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

ORDERED, that the Hon. William Spooner, Peter C. Brooks and John Welles, Esquires, be a Committee to wait on the Rev. David Osgood, D.D. and in the name the Senate, thank him for the Discourse delivered yesterday by him before His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, the Honourable Council, and the two branches of the General Court; and also to request of him a Copy for the Press.

NATHANIEL COFFIN, Clerk of Senate.

DISCOURSE.

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Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he

did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren:

And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render

upon their heads; and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal.

IN these words the inspired writer gives us his reflections upon the preceding history of the family of Jerubbaal, originally called Gideon. Like those old Romans who were called from the plough to the dictatorship, Gideon was threshing wheat at the time when he received his commission to head the armies of Israel. Among all the celebrated heroes of antiquity, none could have been entitled to greater respect, than is expressed by the Angel of God in this salutation to Gideon, THE LORD IS WITH THEE, THOU MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR. Though he had not as yet advanced far in life, this greeting suggests the idea of an illustrious established character, that, by some prior achievements not recorded, his great talents and heroic qualities had already been signalized. Many opportunities for his becoming thus distinguished, must have occurred during the overwhelming calamities under which his country had groaned for the last seven years. Through each revolving season, what the Israelites had sown, their enemies had reaped, and the pillaged inhabitants who had escaped with their lives, were left destitute of the means of subsistence. Dispersed among the mountains, in dens, caves and strongholds; they were languishing though want, while the combined forces of their enemies, NUMEROUS AS GRASSHOPPERS, were spreading their ravages far and wide and destroying the country.

Such was the situation of the Israelites when their God interposed by the hand of Gideon, to effect their deliverance. Never perhaps before or since, was so great and splendid a victory gained by such a handful of troops. With but three hundred men, through divine assistance, Gideon put to instant and total rout an army of more than one hundred thousand. All these and twenty thousand more, fell in the course of his success. He ceased not the pursuit till he had captured and slain the combined kings and chiefs of the enemy. Amidst all his efforts against foreign invaders, he had to contend with the unfriendly views, the baseness and treachery of a numerous party among his own people. A great nation is seldom, if ever, reduced to the condition in which the Israelites are here stated to have been, without its being occasioned in part, at least, by disunion and discord among themselves. When they are destined to subjugation and conquest, their intestine divisions prepare the way and facilitate the event. The intrigues of their conquerors are usually as efficacious as their weapons. Among the Israelites at this time, whole cities, if not tribes, had taken so decided a part against the cause of their country; and either through fear or corruption, were so attached to that of its invaders that, after Gideon's first great and miraculous victory, they would not admit the probability of his final success. Instead of the feelings of gratitude and the language of praise, they uttered that of contempt. To his demand of refreshment for his exhausted and fainting soldiers, the magistrates of Succoth and Penuel returned this most insolent answer, ARE ZEBA AND ZULMUNNA NOW IN THINE HAND, THAT WE SHOULD GIVEBREAD UNTO THINE ARMY? In the punishment of these faithless cities afterward, patriotism, as well as justice, was displayed. The common safety required an example of terror in such vile traitors.

On various other occasions, Gideon exhibited the abilities and virtues of a great and good commander. While he was yet in pursuit of the flying enemy, he found himself unexpectedly involved in controversy with a part of his own forces. The succours from the powerful and warlike tribe of Ephraim, took offence at their not having received an earlier summons to the war. Their anger was as unseasonable, as utterly unfounded; yet for these very reasons been, the more wild and untractable. Had; Gideon answered them as Jepthah did afterward, the consequences might have been equally lamentable. We cannot but admire his self-command, his superior wisdom and goodness in turning away their wrath. By passing unnoticed the absurdity of their allegations, and by his modesty and humility in extolling THEIR exploits as superior to his own; he disarmed their insolence and so flattered their vanity, as prevented any detriment to the public service by so foolish an altercation.--In short, by his valor and good conduct, greatness of mind, soundness of judgement, moderation, prudence, and disinterestedness in serving the public; he completely succeeded in breaking from the neck of his country, the yoke imposed by foreign powers, vanquishing and expelling those invaders, chastising their partizans among his own people, quelling sedition, reconciling parties and divisions, and, at length, establishing the independence, peace and prosperity of his nation.

So manifold, great and extensive were his services that, the Israelites, feeling the happiness derived from his administration, were constrained to the most grateful acknowledgments. Nay, their gratitude led them to offer much more than he was willing to accept--Always prone to imitate the customs and manners of the nations around them, they already entertained the desire of resembling them in the form of their government. Having received such proofs of Gideon's abilities and of the excellence of his character,; a great majority of them agreed to make him king, and to render the crown hereditary in his family: RULE THOU OVER US, BOTH THOU AND THY SON, AND THY SON"S SON ALSO.

Gideon seems to have been sensibly hurt and grieved that his fellow-citizens were capable of making such a proposal. Most memorable is his answer; and for patriotism, piety, and disinterestedness, almost unexampled: I WILL NOT RULE OVER YOU: THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. Thus firmly and sternly did he oppose the wishes of an infatuated people to make a surrender of their liberties by turning their divinely constituted republic into a monarchy. Thus nobly did he reject a sceptre when offered, showing a mind superior to the charms of power, the splendors of royalty, and all the allurements of worldly grandeur--at the same time solemnly admonishing the Israelites that, as God was their king, no one, unauthorized by him, could lawfully exercise the supreme dominion over them. Gideon was a TRUE REPUBLICAN. Would to God that the principal leaders of those who affect to be so called in modern times, were not, in their principles and conduct, their views and pursuits, perfect contrasts to this ISRAELITE INDEED!

Though he refused the title and prerogatives of king, yet Gideon's great services and the weight and respectability of his character, gave him an influence in the affairs of the nation, superior to that usually attendant on royal authority. Such was the constitution of the Jewish commonwealth, that idolatry partook of the nature of treason and rebellion. If it were not immediately punished and extirpated by the executive authority, it uniformly brought divine judgements upon the nation. Yet it seems that through their whole history down to the Chaldean captivity, this sin continued to be precisely that which most easily best them. Prone however as they were to this sin, in such awe did they stand of Gideon, that, during his life (WHICH WAS MERCIFULLY PROLONGED TO A GOOD OLD AGE) it was not openly practiced. For this reason the historian adds, THE COUNTRY WAS IN QUIETNESS FORTY YEARS, IN ALL THE DAYS OF GIDEON. What an uncommon and almost singular instance of national peace and prosperity! and all apparently derived from the authority, influence and example of an individual! What a blessing to mankind are such individuals! How truly are they the salt of the earth and the light of the world!

The characters of great and good men are essentially the same in every nation and every age. Under the name of Gideon, we have marked much of the conduct and many of the virtues of that illustrious Chief to whom our own country was indebted for its deliverance, peace and prosperity. The government of such rulers is compared in Scripture, to THE RAIN COMING DOWN UPON THE MOWN GRASS, SHOWERS on the thirsty earth--to THE LIGHT OF THE MORNING WHEN THE SUN IS RISING, to A MORNING WITHOUT CLOUDS: while on the other part, rulers of an opposite character, devoid of the principles of true religion and virtue, are depicted, in the consequences of their administration to the people, AS ROARING LIONS AND RANGING BEARS. The truth and justness of these representations are confirmed by the experience of all nations and by the whole history of the world. Is it then conceivable, that the nation of Gideon or the nation of Washington, after having for years rejoiced in the rich blessings derived from such rulers, after having had perfect acquaintance with the principles and maxims of their administration, after having received from them their last solemn paternal advice, should, in direct contradiction to such advice, be capable of giving their suffrages for rulers known to be of a different and opposite character? Of all the follies to which human beings are liable, is there any more unaccountable, more astonishing than this?

THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU, said Gideon to the

assembled Israelites; and this he continued repeating, inculcating and, with the utmost exertion of his power and influence, energetically enforcing throughout his lengthened days to the last hour of his life. But, says the historian, AS SOON AS GIDEON WAS DEAD, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TURNED AGAIN, AND WENT A WHORING AFTER BAALIM, AND MADE BAALBERITH THEIR GOD. This choice of new gods could not so immediately have taken place had not the people been previously thus inclined. The probability is, that, like a mighty stream obstructed in its course, their idolatrous inclinations had been long swelling and tumultuously rising against the authority of Gideon. On the ceasing of this authority therefore, they rushed precipitately the downward way of their hearts--From the subsequent history however, we are led to conclude that the commencement of this apostasy was, not at Ophrah where Gideon had dwelt and was buried; but, in a distant territory at Shechem a city of the first rank in the numerous tribe of Ephraim. The inhabitants of this place had been long waiting with impatience for the tidings of old Gideon's exit, that they might, without fear, openly avow their attachment to Baal. No sooner therefore were those tidings announced, than all hands were employed in erecting a temple to their favorite idol, preparing sacrifices and establishing the ritual of his worship.

With the zeal of new proselytes, and with the malignity which apostates from the true religion always feel towards those whom they have deserted; the Shechemites were thus employed when there appeared among them, a base born son of the late Gideon, named ABIMELECH signifying in the original Hebrew, MY FATHER A KING. The vanity of his mother, in all probability, gave him that name, that it might denote her connexion with the most eminent personage in Israel. Nor is it unlikely, that its early impression upon the mind of her son, continually cherished by maternal pride in his education, kindled in his bosom that ambition which, on the death of his father, led him to aspire at royalty. The difficulties to be encountered, the obstacles tom be removed or surmounted, were undoubtedly such as would have discouraged any other spirit less daring and wicked. SAMUEL MADE HIS SONS JUDGES in the land: In this, he most probably followed the example of his predecessors, who, very naturally, introduced their sons as subordinate officers and assistants in the administration of the government. Gideon left seventy legitimate sons. Forty years had elapsed since Jether the eldest, attended his father in the war against the Midianites. By this time, the most, if not all, of them had arrived to that age which usually givers men the greatest sway in the affairs of the public; and were probably in stations of power and trust at the death of their father. If they were in general attached to his religion and government, as, it is certain, one of them was, they must, with their friends and connexions, have formed a most formidable phalanx against the ambitious designs of Abimelech. The disadvantages of HIS birth, AS THE SON OF A MAID-SERVANT, rendered his claim more questionable than that of his brethren. In short, he was well aware, that he had no prospect of success but though THEIR previous destruction; and he seems to have possessed too much of the modern philosophy, to feel any check or restraint from that consideration.

We may fairly suppose that, upon his first coming among the Shechemites, he openly applauded their innovations in religion, declared his own faith to be the same with theirs, expressed his abhorrence of the former worship, and inveighed equally against the late government and all who had been concerned in its administration. His object was, by his management and address, so to work up and inflame the passions and prejudices of the multitude, that they might the more easily afterward be brought to favor that scheme of ambition which as yet, he forebore openly to avow. When, by these arts, he had attracted notice, became popular, and found himself high in the esteem of the citizens; he began his secret intrigues with a chosen few. His mother was a native of this city, and through her numerous relations, had a great interest with the citizens. These relations were now made the confidents of Abimelech. To them he opened his plot, and solicited their assistance in carrying it into effect. HE COMMUNED, says the historian, WITH THE BRETHREN OF HIS MOTHER, AND WITH ALL THE HOUSE OF HIS FATHER. Having brought these to espouse his cause, he prescribed to them the means for gaining over the other citizens. They were instructed to display all their eloquence in painting to the people, the pride and arrogance of his brethren, their arbitrary and tyrannical dispositions, their ambitious views, and the scenes of civil discord, unavoidably consequent upon the rivalries of so many young princes—all aspiring to the sovereignty. The history being totally silent with respect to any ambitious designs entertained by the other sons of Gideon; these insinuations of Abimelech, were the grossest forgeries, vile and wicked slanders, contrived and promulgated for no other purpose but to cloak the deeds of horror which he already meditated. After possessing the minds of the people with those prejudices against his brethren; Abimelech's partisans were next to sound HIS praises, and finish their harangue with reminding the people that, as originating from their city and related to many of them, he was THEIR BONE AND FLESH.

The brethren of his mother and their kindred seem most faithfully to have fulfilled their instructions: THEY SPAKE OF HIM IN THE EARS OF ALL THE MEN OF SHECHEM ALL THESE WORDS;and by their eloquence and influence, succeeded in winning the hearts of the citizens, and attaching them to his interest. HE IS OUR BROTHER, one and another exclaimed; and so, his party daily increased. When it had become strong, the first thing requested of them was, that the money in the public treasury, might be at his disposal. To this the elders of the city consented, and were probably not ignorant of the cruel and bloody, though as yet, secret enterprise for which it was wanted. As they were the worshippers of that idol whose altar Gideon had thrown down, their religious principals, as well as political views, might render them willing that a severe revenge should be executed upon his family. With their money, Abimelech hired a troop of banditti; the history says, VAIN AND LIGHT PERSONS, to surprise and massacre his brethren. As a stone was often used as an altar, the history, in stating that THEY SLEW THE THREE SCORE AND TEN SONS OF JERUBBAAL UPON ONE STONE, may be understood as insinuating that all these persons were offered as so many victims to Baal, byway of atonement for the injury which that idol had formerly received from their father.

With this sacrifice, shocking and horrible as it was,

the Shechemites seem to have been well pleased; believing, no doubt, that it would render their idol the more propitious to them. Soon after, they assembled in a formal manner to place the crown upon the head of Abimelech, and take their oath of allegiance. Thus they publicly approbated his crimes, bound the guilt of them upon their own consciences, and rendered themselves liable to share in their punishment. Instances of such extraordinary wickedness and cruelty rarely escape punishment even in the present world. In the common retributions of divine providence, they who take the sword, often perish by the sword; Men of violence and bloodshed usually come to a violent end. What they have sown, they also reap. They are snared in the work of their own hands, and fall in the pit which themselves have digged.

But, as the Israelites were the chosen people of Jehovah, he usually gave them previous warning of those judgements which their crimes drew down upon them. To Abimelech and the Shechemites, this warning was dispensed by Jotham the only one, of all Gideon's legitimate sons, who escaped the massacre. Him the spirit of God undoubtedly prompted and inspired to foretel the just doom which awaited the murderers of his brethren. His own ingenuity, perhaps, framed the allegory with which his prediction is introduced. Nothing pertaining to language, seems to have been more ancient, than the use of parables and apologues to set forth the most serious matters, and inculcate the most interesting truths. The Greeks claimed to have been the inventors of this mode of instruction; but their claim had no other foundation besides their own vanity. Ages before the existence of Aesop or any other author known to their nation, the Orientals, and particularly the Hebrews, had adopted this ingenious method of teaching by amusing. "As speech became more cultivated, says the learned WARBURTON, the rude manner of speaking by action, was smoothed and polished into an apologue or fable; where the speaker, to enforce his purpose by a suitable impression, told a familiar tale of his own invention, accompanied with such circumstances as made his design evident and persuasive."

The city of Shechem being situated at the foot of mount Gerrizim, from this mount, in the hearing of all the people assembled at a public festival subsequent to the coronation of Abimelech, Jothan pronounced his CURSE, not a CAUSELESS one, it being a divine prediction. "Hearken unto me, men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over trees? And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou and reign over us. But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon."

As this fable is confessedly the most ancient upon record; so it is beautiful, impressive, and striking beyond almost any other example. By the speeches which Jotham makes for the good and useful trees, he seems, with filial reverence, to allude the noble conduct of his father in refusing to be made king; while at the same time he reminds the Israelites of their unspeakable obligations to him.* (Footnote: The expression of wine's CHEERING GOD AND MAN, ought perhaps to be rendered GODS AND MEN. Jotham here adopts the pagan style as best adapted to the notions of the idolatrous Shechemites, and more likely to be understood by them. Instead of referring to Jehovah, he means that wine cheereth hero-gods, such as the Sheckemites worshipped. They had made Ball-berith their god, a deity confessedly originating from among men. As having this allusion, the expression contains a fine stroke of ridicule and insinuates to the Shechemites, the pitiful origin of their deities--they being such as were supposed to be, or to have been, REFRESHED WITH WINE.)

The general moral of the parable, is highly important, and is inculcated with all imaginable force. Following the arrangement of scripture, which uniformly includes all men under the two opposite characters of the righteous and the wicked, it sets forth the different effects produced by these characters when exalted to power; the healing, cheering and beneficent influences of the one; and the wounding, fretting and baneful influences of the other. The different ways by which they frequently attain to power, are also strongly marked. No arts however vile, no intrigues however base and wicked, are scrupled or declined by unprincipled men when circumstances are such as to give them any hope of success. For the honors and emoluments of office, their thirst is insatiable, and they hurry on to their attainment per fas & nefas. Though in themselves, weak and worthless, and, from their want of abilities or from their want of integrity, totally incompetent to the duties of a high station; yet, these are the men whose souls are devoured by ambition, in whom it reigns predominant. They are always aspiring to the chief dignities, always on the watch to burst open the doors of public confidence and thrust themselves forward to the chair of State; while, on the other pert, the truly wise and good are too modest and diffident thus to obtrude themselves upon the notice of the public. Instead, of placing their happiness in the exercise of dominion over others, they are content with the due government of themselves, and prize the ease and freedom of private life. It is with no small reluctance, that such men are drawn from their beloved retirement. THE OLIVE TREE, THE FIG TREE, THE VINE, and every good and useful tree, are afraid to turn aside from that course of beneficence allotted to them by nature and the author of nature. Aware of the responsibility annexed to a high station, they dread its snares and temptations. Doubting of their own capacity to serve the public in the best manner, they dread lest by some mistake in their administration, the peace, safety or prosperity of the State should be endangered. They therefore wish to decline a province to which they fear their talents are not equal. Nothing but a conviction of duty, of a call in providence will enable them to surmount these scruples. On the other part, unprincipled men have no difficulties of this kind. The bramble, whose very nature unfits it to be useful in any place or condition, boldly comes forward, self-assured and self-confident, to be made the head of the whole vegetative creation.

The vanity of base men when thus invested with power, is painted in colours the most vivid and striking; and the ridicule thrown upon that vanity, is inimitably marked and pointed in those circumstances where the bramble bids his new subjects, who needed no shadow, to COME. and PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIS--"If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in MY shadow"-in the shadow of a bramble!

Such a claim is never made by rulers truly wise and good. From a deep and habitual sense of their liableness to err, they dare not demand implicit confidence. "Though I am unconscious of intentional error, says one of the best of rulers, I may have committed many. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert the evils to which they tend". The election of such a ruler seems to have been, at first, proposed by the republic of trees. To such a choice, the revealed wisdom of God confines the republic of men. THOU SHALT PROVIDE OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE, ABLE MEN, SUCH AS FEAR GOD, MEN OF TRUTH, HATING COVETOUSNESS. The whole nation is to be scrutinized that its best characters may be selected. ABLE MEN, possessing extensive knowledge, clear and rational ideas of a just and equal government--ideas matured by deep reflection, nice observation, and long experience. SUCH AS FEAR GOD, who are under the habitual impression of their accountableness to him for all their actions, possessing established principles of true religion--principles continually cherished and strengthened by a regular and conscientious attendance upon religious duties. MEN OF TRUTH, in whose conduct and transactions either in their private or public capacity, no appearance of guile, of duplicity, of insincerity or of subtle craftiness, can be found; all whose measures both of internal policy and of foreign negotiation, are above the suspicion of artifice and design, bearing the marks of fairness, simplicity, truth, justice, and strict impartiality;--men whom no considerations will induce knowingly to swerve from these principles of true dignity and rectitude. HATING COVETOUSNESS, whose very souls abhor all mean and selfish views, all interested schemes for their own advancement or for the advancement of any party; who recognize no party, but behold with equal affection and solicitude, all parts of the community; and make the general weal the great object of all their counsels, endeavors, and pursuits; whose whole administration reflects greatness of mind, liberality of sentiment, generous and noble aims, disinterestedness, and public spirit.

Would such rulers, on their first elevation to power,

with an air of serious concern, anxiously ask, "how are vacancies to be obtained?" After a long and tedious struggle, having , at length, "burst the doors of honor and confidence," and forced our entrance all hungry and starving for lucrative employments, "how are vacancies to be obtained?"

Would rulers who are men of ABILITY, that is, of some understanding, on the reception of injuries and insults from foreign nations, avenge such wrongs by a most rigorous blockade of all the ports of their own country?--Would rulers who are MEN OF TRUTH, speaking of this identical measure, declare to their own subjects, that its sole object was to distress foreign nations; and at the same time, in the most formal and solemn manner, protest to those foreign nations; that it was wholly a municipal regulation, not in the least aimed against them? Would rulers partaking of the nature of the OLIVE and other good trees, on their exaltation, bear their faculties with the airs of victors at the head of a triumphant party, and exercise their power for the humiliation of all who had not favored their promotion? Would they heap reproaches upon their predecessors in the administration, stigmatize them as a SECT, charge them with "having proscribed half the society as unworthy of any trust"--and with having conferred offices upon others guilty of political "delinquency, oppression, intolerance, and anti-revolutionary adherence to our enemies?--Then exhibit themselves as brought forward to correct such abuses, declare their purpose to effect it, and warn the nation that till it shall be accomplished, it must not be expected that "the honesty, capacity and faithfulness" of candidates will be the qualities principally regarded in appointments to office.

In free governments, during the excitements and tumultuous scenes of popular election while the partisans of rival candidates are discussing the merits and exerting their influence in behalf of their respective favorites; unpleasant things are unavoidable. But no truth in the Bible is more certain than this, that great statesmen, possessed of a true patriotism, will retain no remembrance of these irritations afterward. Placed at the helm, from that moment they will cease to know, and from every wish to know, who voted for or against them. It will be their most studious concern throughout their administration, to show themselves alike blind to, and ignorant of, all parties; bearing an equal relation to, and an equal affection for each individual and each class and description of the people, entertaining no other thought or design but by an equal, universal, most strenuous and impartial beneficence, to dissolve and melt down into one common mass all party distinctions. They will consider themselves as sustaining the representative sovereignty of the country for the good of the whole and every part, and in the execution of their high offices, will regard nothing but the general weal, peace, and prosperity.

Such rulers can have no occasion for a veil of mystery over their proceedings. The general good being the object of all their counsels, they are willing that their plans for its promotion, should be examined by the people for whose sake they are proposed and whose interests will be affected by them. Nor are they hasty in their decisions. No question of great moment, is determined till it has been first weighed and thoroughly considered in all its bearings and relations. It was an acknowledged trait in the character of that ruler whom our country recognized as its father, that his eyes and ears were always open to information from every quarter. He chose that a difficult question, previous to its receiving his decision, should be exposed to public discussion, that he might avail himself of any light that might be thrown upon it by the collision of parties. He wished the necessity or usefulness of every act of his administration should be so manifest as to meet the approbation of all reasonable unprejudiced minds.

Alas! when we think of HIM, do we not feel a gloom at the reverse witnessed in our public affairs since they have fallen into other hands, into the hands of those, I mean, who uniformly opposed his most wise and salutary measures? What a different temper and conduct have marked their course? and to what a result they have progressed? The very things against which he with anxious solicitude and boding apprehension, most solemnly again and again cautioned us, have taken place. "Excessive partiality to one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another;" timid and mean submissions to the outrages of the one, and hostile menacing airs towards the other, continued through a long course of equivocal negotiation, at length, brought us to the brink of a precipice. To effect our escape, gracious heaven! what was done? Measures strange, NEW UNDER THE SUN, not recorded in any history, not tested by the experience of any nation, were precipitately proposed and as precipitately adopted. "I would not deliberate" exclaimed the infatuated senator: and so laws are at once enacted whose execution brings distress upon thousands, arrests a commerce said to be the second in the world, and turns the naval and military force of the country against the industry and peace of its inhabitants; laws which, in a free republic, outrage all the principles of freedom, trample upon the most essential rights of man, and dissolve the bonds of the social compact.--The obstinacy with which the blundering* authors of these measures adhered to them, was truly astonishing.* (FOOTNOTE: BLUNDERING-This epithet needs no apology, since, by the late accommodation with Great-Britain, on the very terms offered from the beginning, our government has implicitly acknowledged that the embargo measures were unnecessary; of course, foolish and BLUNDERING. Must not the advisors and abettors of those measures, the source of so many evils, have faces of brass, if they ever show them again in our national councils? My prayer to God for them is, that they may be restored to the use of their reason, freed from those prejudices and partialities which have hitherto permitted them to see only through the eyes of a JEFFERSON. Had it been the study of these men to give the most perfect illustration of a government administered by a bramble, could they have hit upon an expedient more to their purpose than their embargo system? Of all shrubs, the bramble affords the thinnest and most wretched shade, of which all who attempt to avail themselves, if they turn their body, or move their head, their hands, or foot, instantly they are wounded and pierced with thorns. Were not all these particulars realised in the vexatious restrictions, exorbitant exactions, and numberless fines and forfeitures of the vile laws in question?). To the cloud of petitions, remonstrances and resolves, form whole states, as well as from towns, counties and other collections of people, all pointing out the absurdity, unconstitutionality, oppressive and ruinous tendency of those laws--the only answer was, this language of the bramble, COME PUT YOUR TRUST IN MY SHADOW. In case of disobedience, menaces followed. If every mouth were not stopped, if every tongue was not silent from censure or opposition, the most tremendous punishment was denounced: LET FIRE COME OUT OF THE BRAMBLE AND DEVOUR THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.

It seems essential to public liberty, that the choice

of rulers should be in the hands of the people. Among the nations who have understood the nature, and have been capable of estimating the value of liberty, what rivers of blood have been shed, and what countless millions of treasure have been expended to obtain or to preserve this privilege! Yet what people, in the full enjoyment of it, have not, sooner or later, abused it to their own destruction, by giving their suffrages in favor of a bramble? Melancholy instances of this phrenzy among republican states, occur in all history, sacred and profane, ancient and modern. If parasites and flatterers besiege the throne of princes, hollow hearted patriots, and noisy aspiring demagogues are not less assiduous, or less intriguing, in paying their court to the sovereign people. By such agents and such means, the ancient republics of Greece and Rome, once flourishing, great and renowned, were cheated out of their liberties, and ultimately degraded to the bottom of the scale among the nations of Europe. The nature of all republican governments is such, that they almost necessarily engender parties and factions, divisions and contests. In these contests with each other, men professing themselves republicans, lose sight of their principles in their blind, yet violent attachment to their respective parties. Enlisted under the banners of CAESAR and POMPEY, both sides fight most furiously for their republic, that is, for its shadow, its empty name; after all, its essential powers and privileges have been voluntarily surrendered into the hands of their respective leaders, now sovereigns and despots. Are not we ourselves far advanced toward a situation like this, when the leaders of a dominant party commence an invasion on our BILL OF RIGHTS, and boldly usurp powers not granted by the constitution? In such case, the only hope or consolation left us, consists in this, that no free people will submit to such usurpations, and thus suffer their liberties to be wrested from them till, by vice and corruption, they have become prepared for slavery. Had the Shecemites been ISRAELITES INDEED, firm in the religion of their ancestors and under the influence of virtuous principles; all the arts of such a character as Abimelech, would have failed of success. But having apostatized from Jehovah, and become thoroughly depraved both in their principles and morals--being thus ripe for ruin, divine justice permitted them, with their own hands, to pull that ruin upon themselves. They were given over to the infatuation of putting their trust in the SHADOW OF A BRAMBLE.

The sacred historian mentions it as not the least among the sins of the Israelites, that THEY SHEWED NO KINDNESS TO THE HOUSE OF GIDEON ACCORDING TO ALL THE GOODNESS WHICH HE HAD SHEWED UNTO ISRAEL. Nay, this their ingratitude to the family of their great human benefactor, is mentioned in close connexion with their ingratitude to Jehovah their covenant God, as next in aggravation and heinousness to their guilt of apostasy.--My respected auditors, we have had our Gideon. After procuring us a great victory, and establishing our independence, he assisted in framing for us a system of LIBERTY WITH ORDER. The noble machine being finished, he applied his own shoulders to the task of putting it in motion, in connexion with coajutors partaking his spirit. Thus guided in its operations, it progressed to the admiration of the world; And after rescuing these States from disgrace and danger, exalted them in honor and prosperity. A dreadful counterpart to this felicity would, in all probability, have taken place had the reigns of the national government at that early period fallen into the hands of aspiring demagogues, men destitute of religious principle, intent upon nothing but the aggrandizement of themselves and their party, heedless of the experience of former ages; and hurrying on to the trial of their new and fanciful theories. That the infancy of our general government escaped the ignorance, violence, and wickedness of such vile attendants, is surely among the most brilliant proofs of the watchful care of heaven for our preservation.* (FOOTNOTE: During this period, it was assailed by hosts of enemies. In addition to the difficulties and embarrassments incident to every new government, and the factions incessantly springing up in all republics; it was eminently exposed to the most fatal disasters from that before unheard of revolutionary hurricane which, down to this day, continues sweeping away or new modelling all the old governments of Europe. In those times, had not a WASHINGTON been at the helm and others to co-operate with and succeed him, whose wisdom and firmness preserved our neutrality; our free governments, State as well as National, might ere this day, have gone by and left us under the shackles of a foreign or domestic tyranny. The people of America, following the example and partaking of the fate of their former allies in Europe, after being with them "tossed on the tempestuous sea of liberty," would most certainly have sought repose at any expense. When rest is absolutely necessary, it must be taken though under the shadow of a bramble.).

WASHINGTON steered us through the first breakers; then giving us his blessing in his FAREWELL ADDRESS, quitted the helm; but to the end of his life, his general influence continued, and with it our prosperity, advancing indeed to a height before unexampled. At length, HE, like Gideon of Israel died; and we, everywhere, made the most pompous show of mourning, by solemn dirges, eulogies and funeral processions. But, scarcely had we finished these farcical scenes when we committed the direction of our affairs to the very men who had been HIS most inveterate opponents; and by their exaltation, politically slew all his children.*(FOOTNOTE: Even this did not satisfy their successors in office. They wished to carry the matter still further, and literally to complete their own resemblance to the Shechemites. For years already they had been massacring the reputations of the friends of WASHINGTON. Unprincipled scribblers had been hired to write libels upon them, and half the newspapers of the country were the vehicles of these libels;--the sufferers of this abuse, in the mean-while standing, like the band of LEONIDAS at the Straits of Thermoplylae, to save us from the perdition of French influence. It was this very circumstance however, which inflamed the rage of the new rulers, who, on their coming to power, prosecuted those honest and faithful patriots upon charges so utterly unfounded, that the world was astonished at their indiscretion in thus betraying their malignity.) Does it not become a Christian nation seriously to consider whether ingratitude towards those whom Heaven has made eminently their benefactors and the instruments of their most signal prosperity, may not draw upon them tokens of the divine displeasure? These are the concluding words of Jotham’s curse mentioned in the text,-- LET FIRE COME OUT FROM ABIMELECH, AND DEVOUR THE MEN OF These are the concluding words of Jotham's curse mentioned in the text,--LET FIRE COME OUT FROM ABIMELECH, AND DEVOUR THE MEN OF SHECHEM AND THE HOUSE OF MILLO,; AND LET FIRE COME OUT FROM THE MEN OF SHECHEM, AND FROM THE HOUSE OF MILLO, AND DEVOUR ABIMELECH. The accomplishment of this anathema speedily commenced. The new king and his subjects soon became hostile towards each other. THE MEN OF SHECHEM, says the history, DEALT TREACHEROUSLY WITH ABIMELECH--AND CURSED HIM IN THE HOUSE OF THEIR GOD. Towards them he proved a most cruel tyrant. By dear bought experience they learnt what it was to repose under the shadow of a bramble. Their sufferings seem to have been for some time protracted that they might have opportunity to feel all their sharpness; and in the issue, both parties succeeded in destroying each other. After recording the particulars of this destruction, the historian concludes, THUS GOD RENDERED THE WICKEDNESS OF ABIMELECH WHICH HE DID UNTO HIS FATHER, IN SLAYING HIS SEVENTY BRETHREN: AND ALL THE EVIL OF THE MEN OF SHECHEM DID GOD RENDER UPON THEIR HEADS: AND UPON THEM CAME THE CURSE OF JOTHAM, THE SON OF JERUBBAAL.* (FOOTNOTE: Mutual hostilities seem to have been carried on for some time when Abimelech, with his mercenaries, succeeded in storming the city of his mother's relations, putting its inhabitants to the sword, levelling it to the ground, and SOWING IT WITH SALT. By this last ceremony he expressed his hatred of the Shechemites, and his wish that their city might always lie desolate, a perpetual monument of his revenge.--He next attacked the TOWER OF SHECHEM, an appendage to the temple of the GOD BERITH, out of which he had some time before received the money to hire assassins of his brethren. Into this temple and tower of the HOUSE OF MILLO had fled, that is, the nobles or elders of the city; for this seems to be the meaning of the word Hebrew word Millo. This collection of the principal citizens having had the chief hand in making Abimelech king, now received a just recompence. The temple and tower being set on fire, they and their wives, to the number of a thousand persons, perished in the flames. THUS FIRE CAME OUT OF THE BRAMBLE, AND DEVOURED THE CEDARS OF LEBANON.--Not far distant from Shechem, stood the city of Thebes whose inhabitants had so far sided with the Shechemites as drew upon them the wrath of a tyrant. On his approach, not attempting to defend the walls of the city, they retreated into its tower. Abimelech thought to have set this on fire as he had before done that of Shechem; but on his coming nigh on his purpose, he met his fate. He had slain all his brethren upon ONE STONE; and now a stone, thrown by the hand of a woman fractured his skull. He felt the blow to be mortal and that he was actually dying. Thus summoned into the presence of his final judge, what has such a monster of wickedness to expect! If everlasting punishment awaits the guilty of any kind; what must be the doom of the man who has cruelly in cold blood murdered his brethren and by fire and sword destroyed whole cities of his fellow creatures! Yet Abimelech has no bonds in his death; and the only thought which gives him any uneasiness is, lest it should be said of him, A WOMAN SLEW HIM. Good God! to what a degree of stupidity and brutish insensibility may the moral faculties of thy rational offspring be reduced.) In bringing about this retribution, no miracle seems to have been wrought, nor the operation of any particular cause or agent raised above the pitch or tendency of its nature: The great Ruler of the world suffered the currents of events and the succession of causes and effects to proceed on in their accustomed course while this course was so guided by his all-pervading providence that they who had enlisted themselves as the creatures and partizans of an intriguing ambitious usurper, were imperceptibly taken in their own snares and became the victims of their own devices. Let those who hear and fear who, in their prejudices and partialities, bear any resemblance to the Shechemites. The same Providence which governed the world in the age of Gideon, governs it still, and has the same means for making the transgressions of the wicked to reprove them, and their backslidings to correct them.

Legislators of the Commonwealth, as the representatives of the people chosen and deputed to make their laws, guard their liberties and take care of their concerns; it is natural to suppose that men thus selected and for such purposes, rank among the wisest and most upright of the community. We have seen however, that a free people, on some occasions, confide these trusts to hands unworthy of them. They are in special danger of committing this folly at a time when the spirit of party is prevalent. Under the influence of this spirit, the electors consider, not the talents and virtues of good rulers; but whether the candidate be the BONE AND FLESH of their party--having capacity and zeal to serve its interests. Their inquiry is, whether he be a brother of the faction to which themselves are attached. Thus circumstanced, the most violent partizan obtains the vote. Could we suppose a legislative assembly composed of such characters, thus chosen and coming together with such views and dispositions; what would they be but a copse of BRAMBLES THE BEST OF THEM A BRIER, THE MOST UPRIGHT SHARPER THAN A THORN HEDGE? God forbid that a majority of rulers in any New England State should ever consist of such characters! Indeed they cannot, while any portion of the spirit and principles of the first settlers of the country, be retained among their descendants. Christian piety, a thing without partiality and without hypocrisy, in its very nature most opposite to the spirit of party, was considered by our forefathers as the only root from which any true and genuine patriotism could spring. This sentiment has been so far handed down to modern times, that it is explicitly recognized in the constitution of this commonwealth. Each member of our legislature, on his entrance into office, solemnly declares that "he believes the Christian religion and has a firm persuasion of its truth." This declaration, virtually acknowledging all the obligations of Christianity, adds them to the other obligations by which our rulers are bound to legislate upon such subjects only and for such purposes only, as are specified in the social compact. Within this inclosure, ye legislators, all your labours are confined. If ye pass these limits, your laws become unlawful; in making them ye betray your trust, violate your oaths, and bring upon yourselves the guilt of perjury.

Should our federal rulers thus abuse the trust reposed on them, and violate the principles of the national compact, you will, as the guardians in the rights of your constituents, make a prudent, yet firm opposition, resolutely treading on in the steps of your predecessors of the last year. The wisdom and dignity of their proceedings upon this subject, have ranked them with those immortal patriots who began that resistance to usurped power, which issued in the independence of these States. If we would preserve the liberties, by that struggle, so dearly purchased, the call for resistance against the usurpations of our own government, is as urgent as it was formerly against those of our mother country. No unbiased mind can review the measures pursued by those who, for some time past, guided our national counsels, without being convinced, not only that the constitution has been violated, but violated for a purpose the most pernicious ; that a state of hostilities against Great-Britain, now nobly contending for the rights of nations; and a consequent alliance with her adversary, the execrable scourge of Europe, were most treacherously and wickedly contemplated. To my apprehension, the danger from such a policy, is more to be dreaded than any which had ever before threatened our country. It is a gulf in which our national honor and prosperity, our liberties, our religion, our morals, our happiness, will all be lost irretrievably--in which we shall be plunged in everlasting infamy and wretchedness. But, apart from this danger, which, blessed by God, seems at present to be happily escaped, most probably in consequence of the patriotic opposition just mentioned: to what purpose did we frame the national compact if we suffer its provisions to be disregarded? Why did we, with such extreme caution, after long deliberation, first in an assembly of delegates from all the states, then in separate conventions in each individual state, prescribe the terms of national union, after each of those terms had been sifted and scrutinized over and over again, in every form and shape, through all their possible consequences and effects--why this vast apparatus, these extended discussions, these unwearied pains in settling the terms of national union, if, when settled, we permit them to be dispensed with at pleasure, place our confidence in the men who wantonly spurn their limitations, and reproach, as hostile to the federal union, that warning voice which would dissuade us from such insanity?

The truth is, that the worst and the only enemies of this union, are those who break its ties and burst its bonds asunder, Its only real and substantial friends, are those who perseveringly oppose such infractions. By such opposition only, can the very end for which the constitution was framed be answered, and the constitution itself, together with the liberties which it guarantees, be preserved. This constitution has indeed been altered, in some instances, for the worse. It is hoped that its next alteration will be for the better, by clearing it of that strange absurdity, which, through the slaves of our southern brethren, gives them an undue and baneful influence in our national councels. These northern states must be lost to a sense of their own rights and dignity--They must acknowledge themselves to be something less than men, if all their parties do not unite in their endeavors to effect this alteration. It is also equally incumbent upon them, to unite in procuring a navy for the protection of their commerce. Had many millions, foolishly squandered in the delusive purchase of a wilderness utterly useless, been expended in building ships of war; our trade, in all probability, would have escaped its late, as well as present, embarrassments. Every man, in the least acquainted with history, must know that, of all other means, commerce is pre-eminently useful and indeed necessary for promoting national wealth and prosperity, spreading general information, advancing arts and knowledge, increasing civilization, refining and polishing the manners of a people, and giving them those improvements which adorn society and constitute its highest felicity. But nothing can be more absurd, than to dream of a great and extended commerce without a navy for its protection--this being equally necessary both at home and abroad.. The gun-boat policy, excepting for embargo purposes, is so despicable and purile that, were BUFFON still alive, he might bring it as another proof of the "dwarfish nature of every American production." These interesting objects will find their place in the deliberations of our civil fathers. Sooner or later they will be obtained if this nation be destined to flourish and become great. If present success should be doubtful, this should not discourage our exertions. If heaven, provoked by our sins, should, in its wrath, give us up to our prejudices and partialities, that, like the Shechemites, we may be vexed and harassed by the tyranny of brambles; still every good ruler and every good citizen should persevere in their endeavors to ward off these calamities. This is the course of true virtue and patriotism. If in this course, like the children of Gideon, our lives should be cut short by the prevailing faction;--even the foresight of this should not dampen our ardour. We are to remember that there is still a reward for the righteous. We are all placed here for the present, on purpose that it may seen how we can acquit ourselves through that variety of private and public trials allotted us by Him to whom we are at last responsible. Every true patriot has learnt to think and to say with Paul of Tarsus, IT IS A SMALL THING WITH ME TO BE JUDGED OF MAN'S JUDGEMENT. Of what real and intrinsic value is that patriotism which requires to be continually fed with present praises or with present rewards? The true patriot, after the best part of his life has been spent in a series of important and faithful services to his country, will descend the vale of years, serene and happy from the consciousness of a part well acted and from a hope thence arising of the final rewards of virtue. If, instead of this, we behold him wavering in his former patriotic opinions, sour and discontented through mere chagrin that the incense of adulation and the glittering tinsels of office have ceased to nourish his vanity;--while we lament such weakness, we can hardly forbear suspecting whether a patriotism which becomes thus shrivelled at its latter end, were not from its beginning, defective in principle. Our country abounds with professed patriots; but after an abundance of leaves and of blossoms, the genuine fruits of that virtue remain wonderfully scarce. It is earnestly recommended to all who wish to cultivate it, that they attend carefully to the soil. If it be planted in an HONEST AND GOOD HEART, like the seed of Evangelical truth, it will certainly be fruitful, yielding thirty, sixty, perhaps a hundred fold. Nor will its fruitfulness be checked by any present difficulties or discouragements. It is animated by the spirit of that Israelitish commander with whose words I conclude. BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND LET US PLAY THE MEN FOR OUR PEOPLE, AND FOR THE CITIES OF OUR GOD: AND THE LORD DO THAT WHICH SEEMETH HIM GOOD.

********

APPENDIX.

******

A LIST OF THOSE WHO HAVE PREACHED ON THIS ANNIVERSARY.

THE following is added by desire of the Historical Society. Gentlemen of information are requested to fill up the blanks. Those who possess any Election Sermons, particularly for the first century of Massachusetts, will benefit the public and posterity, by depositing them in the library of the historical Society, where they will be gratefully received, and preserved. Those which are now in this library, are marked with a star.

BY WHOM. OF WHAT PLACE. TEXT.

1631 Rev.

32

33

34 John Cotton, Boston. [Haggai ii.4**]

35

36

37 Thomas Shepard, Newtown.

38

39

40

1641 Nathaniel Ward, Ipswich.

42

43 Ezekiel Rogers, Rowley.

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

1651

52

53

54

55

56 Charles Chauncy,+ Cambridge.

57

58

59

60

1661 *John Norton. Boston. Psalm lxxvii. 20.

62

63 *John Higginson, Salem. I Kings viii. 57-59.

64

65

66 2 Chron. xv.2.

67 *Jonathan Mitchel, Cambridge. Nehemiah ii. 10

68 *Wm. Stoughton,) Dorchester. Isaiah ixiii.8

69 John Davenport, Boston. 2 Sam. xxiii.3.

70 Samuel Danforth, Roxbury.

1671 *John Oxenbridge, Boston. Hosea, viii.4.

72 *Thomas Shepard, Charlestown Jer. ii.31

73 *Uriah Oakes+ Cambridge. Deut. xxxii. 2.

74 *Samuel Torrey, Weymouth. Rev. ii.5.

75

76 *Wm. Hubbard, Ipswich I Chron. xii. 32.

77 Increase Mather, Boston. I Chron. xxviii. 9.

78 I Tim. ii, 1-2

79 *James Allen, Boston. I Kings, viii. 57.

80

1681 William Brimsmead, Marlborough. Jer. vi, 8.

82 Samuel Willard, Boston. Jer. xxvi. 12-13.

83*Samuel Torrey, Weymouth. Deut. xxxii. 47.

84[John] Hale, [Beverly.] Haggai, ii.4.

85*William Adams, [Dedham] Isaiah, lxvi. 9.

86 Mic. Wigglesworth, Malden. Rev. ii.4.

87

88

89*Cotton Mather, Boston. II Chron. xv. 2.

90*Cotton Mather, Boston. Neh. v. 19.

1691

92[Joshua] Moodey, [Boston]

93 Increase Mather, Boston. Isaiah i. 26.

94 *Samuel Willard, Boston. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3.

95*Samuel Torrey, Weymouth. Hosea, i. 7.

96 Cotton Mather, Boston.

97 [John] Danforth, [Dorchester]

98*Nicholas Noyes, Salem. Jer., xxxi. 22.

99

1700*Cotton Mather, Boston. Psalm, cxlii. 2.

01 Joseph Belcher, Dedham. Job, xxix. 25.

02 Increase Mather, Boston. Esther, x. iii.

03 Solomon Stoddard, Northampton.

06 John Rogers, A.M. Ipswich I Kings, viii, 75-58.

07 Samuel Belcher, Newbury. Matt. vi. 10.

08 John Norton, Hingham. Numbers, xiv. 11.

09 Grindel Rawson,A.M. Mendon. Jer. xiii. 16.

10 *Eben Pemberton, Boston. Psalm lxxxii. 6-7.

1711 Pet. Thatcher, A.M. Milton. Isaiah, lvii. 18.

12 Samuel Cheever, Marblehead. Psalm, xxii. 27-28.

13 Samuel Treat, Eastham.

14 Samuel Danforth, Taunton. Psalm ixxx. 14.

15 Jer. Shepard A.M. Lynn. Isaiah, lxiii. 12.

16 Benj. Wadsworth, Boston. Psalm lxxviii. 72.

17

18 Benj. Colman A.M. Boston. Neh., v. 19.

19 *Wm. Williams A.M. Hatfield. Judges, ii. 2.

20 Nathaniel Stone Harwich. Romans, viii.3.

1721 *Sam. Moodey A.M. York. Luke, iv. 14,15

22 John Hancock A.M. Lexington. Luke, xxii. 25.

23 Benjamin Colman Boston. I Chron. xxvii. 8.

24 Joseph Sewall Boston. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-4.

25 Eben. Thayer A.M. Roxbury. Jer., vi.8.

26 Peter Thatcher A.M. Boston. Psalm lxxvii. 20.

27 Joseph Baxter M.A. Medfield. I Tim. ii. 1-2.

28 Robert Breck A.M. Marlborough Deut. v.29.

29 Jeremiah Wise M.A. Berwick. Rom. xiii. 4.

30 Thomas Prince M.A. Boston. I Sam. ii. 6-7.

1731 Samuel Fiske M.A. Salem. Psalm ci.6.

32 John Swift M.A. Framingham. Luke, xiii. 9.

33 Samuel Wigglesworth Ipswich. Rev. iii. 1-2.

34 John Barnard A.M. Marblehead. Proverbs, xvi. 12.

35 John Prentice, A.M. Lancaster. 2 Chron. xvii. 3-6.

36 Edw. Holyoke, M.A. Marblehead. Neh. vii. 2.

37 Israel Loring, A.M. Sudbury. Rev. ii. 5.

38 John Webb, M.A. Boston. Isaiah ii. 6.

39 Peter Clark, A.M. Salem. Hosea xi. 12.

40 Wm. Cooper, A.M. Boston. Psalm ii. 10-12.

1741 Wm. Williams, A.M. Weston. Zech. xii. 5.

42 Nath. Appleton A.M. Cambridge. Psalm lxxii. 1-3.

43 Nath. Eells V.D.M. Scituate. Deut. xxxii. 47.

44 James Allin V.D.M. Brookline. Isaiah vi. 1.

45 Ebenezer Gay A.M. Hingham. 2 Sam. xxiii. 17.

46 John Barnard M.A. Andover. Psalm lxxxii.1.

47 Chas. Chauncey D.D. Boston. 2 xxiii. 3.

48 Daniel Lewis A.M. Pembroke. Isaiah. xxii. 21.

49 William Balch A.M. Bradford. Psalm cxxii. 6-9.

50 Sam. Phillips A.M. Andover. Prov. viii. 15-16.

1751 Wm. Welsteed A.M. Boston. Psalm xlvii. 9.

52 SMALLPOX IN BOSTON, NO SERMON PREACHED

53 John Cotton, A.M. Newton. Isaiah xxxii.6.

54 Jona. Mayhew, D.D. Boston. Matt. xxv. 21.

55 Sam. Checkley A.M. Boston. Zeph. i.15.

56 Sam. Cooper A.M. Boston. Heb. xi. 24-26.

57 Eben. Pembeton, Boston. Deut. v.29.

58 Thomas Frink A.M. Rutland. Isaiah xxxii. 1-2.

59 Jos. Parsons A.M. Bradford. Esther x.3.

60 Sam. Dunbar A.M. Stoughton. 2 Chron. xv. 1-2.

1761 Benj. Stevens A.M. Kittery. 2 Cor. iii. 17.

62 Abra. Williams A.M. Sandwich. 1 Cor. 12, 25.

63 Tho. Barnard A.M. Salem. Judges ix. 7-15.

64 SMALLPOX IN BOSTON, NO SERMON PREACHED.

65 Andrew Eliot A.M. Boston. 1 Chron. xii. 32.

66 Edw. Barnard A.M. Haverhill. Neh. v. 19.

67 Eben. Bridge A.M. Chelmsford. Deut. xxxiii. 39.

68 Daniel Shute A.M. Hingham. Ezra x. 4.

69 Jason Haven A.M. Dedham. Psalm lxxv. 6-7.

70 Samuel Cooke A.M.* Cambridge. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-4.

1771 John Tucker A.M.* Newbury. I Pet. ii. 13-16.

72 Moses Parsons A.M.* Newb'y-Falls Prov. xxi. 1.

73 Charles Turner A.M. Duxbury. Rom. xiii. 4.

74 Gad Hitchcock A.M. Pembroke. Prov. xxix. 2.

75 Sam. Langdon D.D.+ Cambridge. Isaiah. i. 26.

William Gordon++ Roxbury. Jer. xxx. 20-21.

76 Samuel West A.M. Dartmouth. Titus iii.1.

77 Sam. Webster A.M. Salisbury. Ezekiel xiv. 8-9.

78 Phil. Payson A.M. Chelsea. Gal. iv. 26, 31.

79 Sam. Stillman A.M. Boston. Matt. xxii. 21.

80 Simeon Howard A.M. Boston. Ex. xviii. 21.

1781 Jonas Clark A.M. Lexington. Psalm xlvii. 8-9.

84 Moses Hemmenway Wells. Gal. v. 13.

85 Wm. Symmes A.M. Andover. 1 Chron. xxviii. 8.

86 Sam. West A.M. Needham. Matt. xx.27.

87 Jos. Lyman Hatfield. Rom. xiii.4.

88 David Parsons A.M. Amhearst. Prov. xxiv. 2.

89 Josiah Bridge East-Sudbury Psalm. lxxxii.1.

90 Daniel Foster A.M. New-B'ntree Prov. viii. 16.

1791 Chand. Robbins A.M. Plymouth. 1 Chron. xii.12.

92 David Tappan A.M. Newbury. Psalm lxxvii.20.

93 Sam. Parker D.D. Boston. Prov. xiv. 34.

94 Sam. Deane D.D. Portland. Prov. iii.6.

95 Perez Fobes LL.D. Raynham. 2 Pet. ii. 10,12.

96 Jona. French A.M. Andover. Rom. xiii.5.

97 John Mellen, jun. Barnstable. I Pet. ii. 15.

98 Nath. Emmons A.M. Franklin. Dan. vi. 28.

99 Paul Coffin A.M. Buxton. 2 Sam. xxi. 17.

1800 Jos. McKeen A.M. Beverly. Matt. v. 14.

01 Aaron Bancroft Worchester. Isaiah ix. 21-22.

02 Thos. Baldwin A.M. Boston. I Pet. ii. 16.

03 Reuben Puffer Berlin. Luke xix.44.

04 Sam. Kendall A.M. Weston. Deut. xxxii. 46-47.

05 John Allyn Duxborough Rom. x. 1, & ix 1-3.

06 Sam. Shepard A.M. Lennox. 1 Chron. xxix. 12.

07 Wn. Bentley A.M. Salem Deut. xxxiii. 3.

08 Thos. Allen A.M. Pittfield. 1 Tim. iv.8.

09 David Osgood D.D. Medford. Judges ix. 56-57.

+ PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE, 1775 PREACHED BEFORE THE

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS AT WATERTOWN, MAY 31.

++ PREACHED BEFORE THE GENERAL COURT AT WATERTOWN, ON THE

19th JULY, ON THEIR ASSEMBLING, AGGREEABLY TO THE ADVICE OF

CONGRESS, FOR THE CHOICE OF COUNSELLORS.

* AT CAMBRIDGE.

**What is included in brackets, has been added on probability, without positive authority.

AFTERWARD, LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.