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H EXEMPTION irb less thax DELIVERANCE ^ FROM PUBLIC CALA31ITY, A GROUND OF TIIANKITLMESS. g^ SERMON PREPARED AND PREACHED - IN ACCORDANCB WITH THB PROCIiAIHATION ^ OP t HIS EXCELIiENOT THE GOYERNOB-Ilf-CRIEF, APPOINTING SATURDAY November 1st, 1834. AS A DAY OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING TO AT.MIGBTY QOD, FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THB RAVAOBS OF THE CHOLERA. ({ By the Rev. GEORGE SALMON, Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ^ in Foreign Parts, at Slwffordy L. C. MONTREAL: PRINTED BY A. BOWMAN, CANADIAN COURANT OFnCE, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER STREET. 1835. ,^L» ff-fl*-'*fJWIrt1ili1li*^«1l»l>'\.»f«iMfiM*aii<<^ fttltK'rihihVfLliifl-^*-*'-**'**-'*'* *****-**-* *'— ********************* ■'■^*- h .— ""i.i-i.i'M.»U« ffi a a fti M 'M ' ^ - 1. - ' #' . ■: El FR M PI ,) EXEMPTION NO LESS than DELIVERANCE FROM PUBUC CALAMITY, A GROUND OF THANKFULNESS. SERMON PREFARED AND PREACHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCIiAMATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF, APPOINTING SATURDAY November 1st, 1834. AS A DAY OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY OOD, FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THE RAVAGES OF THE CHOLERA. By the Rev. GEORGE SALMON, Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ih Foreign Parts, at Shefford^ L. C. MONTREAL: PRINTED BY A. BOWMAN, CANADIAN COURANT OFFICE, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER STREET. 1835. fj. To THE Hon. and Right Reverend Charles Janes, Lord Bishop of Quebec. My Lord, I know of no individual to whom a discourse like the present, emanating from one of the Society's Missions in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, can with so much propriety be inscribed as to your Lordship ; by whose devoted Missionary exertions the Church of England was first planted here, and by whose Episcopal care it has been since extended and sustained. Under this impression, my Lord, an impression not unreasonably entertained, that request was conveyed. Your Lorship's ready acquiescence to which has added another item to that long list of obligations which every year increa- ses, and under a grateful sense of which 1 beg to subscribe myself, with great respect, My Lord, Your obliged, and Very faithful Se? v >nt, GEORGE SALMON. Waterloo Village, SliefTord, 2.'>th Nov. 1834. ^ .1 ,. SERMON. ' — ■ ' ' ■ Psalm cxvi. 17. *^i will offer to tlieb the sacrifice of tiianks- oiyino, and will call upon the name of the. Lord/^ To a truly christian mind no duty is more delight- ful, none more grateful than that of praise. It calls into action the finest best feelings ofihe human heart, and lulls each selfish passion into rest. And where we love, where our hearts are with grateful recollec- tions filled, how easy, how pleasant is this duty to per- form ! It is a theme upon which we love to dwell ; a subject to which our feelings naturally incline us to revert. Grateful thoughts invariably lead us to our Benefactor; and under an individual sense of his mercies to us-ward, the spontaneous ebullition of each duly affected heart is, ^^ What shall I render unto the Lord, for all his benefits toward me ?" a But that sense of thankfulness which naturally per- vades every grateful breast, upon the reception of blessings in which we may respectively consider our- selves more largely to share, should sometimes, at least, have its origin in a broad and disinterested in- terpretation of the divine command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" h a precept which, if duly observed, like a fraternal bond, would serve to unite mankind in a firmer closer union ; would teach us to sympathize with and feel more for each other ; would teach us " to rejoice with those that rejoice, and weep with them that weep ;" c would induce us to cultivate a sensibility which shall extend itself beyond the nar- row precincts of our own personal concerns, to the in- terests of that great community of which we are all members, and by the constitution of which we are, as by a common tie, connected with each other, with our Country, and our God. As parts of this great whole, as members of this rtPaalmCXVI. II. h Matt. XIX. 19. c Rom. XII. 15. wide spread family, we arc retiuired by tlio Apostle, and therefore by the Almighty, so far to cherish a spirit of Christian sympathy as that if ^^one member Huflicrs the others should suiTer with iVd — As crea- tures subject to the divine providence of God,we should regard his dispensations towards others as having an indirect bearing on ourselves. Conscious of our own sins and impertections, of which we ougi. to be far more sensible than of the vices of others, we may at least say to ourselves on a retrospect of the mournful scenes which have by divine permission been exhibit- ed around us, in different parts of the Province — *^ if the Almighty deal thus with the green trees, what may we not fear he will do with the dry ?"« We may at least by comparing our own circumstances witn those of our less favored brethren in the flesh, and perhaps in the faith, among whom the desolating scourge has bceo, thence derive obligations to warmer praise — additional motives why we should on this oc- casion, in the language of I>Eivid, ^^Oflfer unto the Lordthe sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon his holy name." In making these words the foundation of those re- marks which I intend at this time to offer, and in bring- ing more fully before you the subject to which the Proclamation of the Government very properly calls our attention, I design that the following ques- tions shall successively engage our consideration : I. — ^What are those circumstances of the Province generally, which, in the opinion of the Executive of our Country, have justified the issuing of the Procla- mation to which we have taken occasion to allude ? II. — In what sense are we, the inhabitants of these Townships, interested in these circumstances ? and III. — What is the character of that sacrifice of thanksgiving which, in accordance with the example of the Psalmist, it is meet we should offer unto the f iord ? In taking that retrospective view which the first 1 ■ 4» d I. Cor. xii. ae. e Luke XXIIL 31. 1 4* 1 part of our subject imperiously requires, I am sensible that a somewhat melancholy duty devolves upon me ; I have to pursue a path deeply indented with the foot- steps of the angel of desolation. 8o far back as the year 1817, it was known that the Cholera existed in the East, in different parts of the broad continent of Asia ; and then, for tne first time, it bcean to be described as a disease the most mortal and appalling. And so long as* the complaint continued to oe known to us only ^ by the hearmg of the ear," it was regarded with that apathy with which dangers apparently distant too commonly are. And however much accounts of its alarming progress may have swelled the columns of the periodicals of the day, nothing is more certain than that they excited no cor- responding apprehension in the breasts of those who fancied themselves far removed from the influence of the complaint. — When, however, in tbe year 1829, it overstepped its former boundaries, and discovered it- self in places where it had never hitherto been known ; when, having traversed Asia, and scourged whole re- gions in its passage, it presented itself a second time on the confines of Europe, in the Russian province of Astracan; and when it was seen to spread itself from thence through that wide Empire, and the adjacent European States ; when it was known to be slaying its thousands, to discover the same malignancy in every variation of climate — amid the cold of Russia, the heat of Palestine, and the more temperate atmosphere of the south of Europe, — then^ indeed, its alarming progress arrested the attention of the civilized world. It was beheld with astonishment and fear. The dan- ger increased in magnitude as it drew nearer. And thousands who had felt little for others, began to ma- nifest undisguised symptoms of concern for themselves. — Nor was it a few hearts, here and there a private person that sickened at the prospect of the threatened scourge. Whole nations, nay more, a whole Conti- nent participated in the feeling, and had recourse to legislative means by which, so far as it depended on an arm of flesh, to guard against the dangerous foe... 8 Amongst those countries to which we more particu- larly allude, were England and America. Separated from the rest of the world, and even from each other, by a broad expanse of sea, we might naturally have supposed, had any portions of the earth been exempt from the malady, these would have been among them. But advantageous as their situations might in some respects be, in other points of view they were far otherwise. As great commercial states they literally courted the evil, which it was the endeavour of their respective Governments to avert ; for scarce a breeze ruffled the ocean, which did not waft some foreign sail to their shores. — Nor were their apprehensions un- founded. The year 1831 had not ^ gone to join the multitude of the past,' when, in spite of care and QuaranHne, the disease appeared in EIngland ; where, as in every other place it had visited, its malignity quickly rendered it fatally pre-eminent above every other malady of man. It was not until the summer of 1832, that, in this country, we were called to realize the afflicting con- sequences of this awful dispensation; to witness in our countrymen and friends those frightfril peculiarities of a complaint, before only known to us from description. For the first eleven days after its existence in this country was known, the mortality occasioned by it in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, is, perhaps, in a Kke population, without a parallel in the dreadful his- tory of its progress^/* In this short space of time in the city of Montreal alone, eight hundred and sixty- two persons perished ! But it was not the number of the victims alone, which generated that strange but certainly not unnar tural dread of the disease, which settled Uke an incu- bus on the public mind ; there were many concurrent circumstances which signally lent their aid to produce that result. It was a new disease. In the annals of our country nothing like it had ever been witnessed before. To attempt to guard against it, appeared la- bor in vain. It seemed to penetrate with the very / This remark is not intended to extend to Asia. ; 4i '! « r 1 jry 9 light, the deepest and most careful seclusion. No in- dividual, whatever were his circumstances, deemed himself secure witHin the circle of its range. Health was no pledge of safety. The magnanimous and most devoted attendance of the medical profession availed so little, that all confidence in human skill was lost. — The disease, with a power peculiarly its own, appear- ed absolutely to sever at a blow every hold man has on hfe. Those ties which unite us to each other, whe- ther kindred or social, were subjected to the severest trials. And those gentle offices of affection which tend so much to assuage the affliction which they are inadequate to remove, were ofltimes fatal to those by whom such attention was bestowed. — Nor are these particulars merely characteristic of the malady as it existed in one particular place ; on the contrary they are generally at»plicable ; they attended the disease with frightful fidelity in every step of its progress, as it traversed with unnatural celerity that splendid chain of communication which connects us with the sister Province. For three long months did this state of things prevail. Then, and not till then, did the Al- mighty interpose in our behalf; and the hand of the destroying angel was stayed. — The winter that ensued, and the year following it, were like the invigorating freshness which succeeds the storm. Health once more returned. The spirit of man revived within him. Life appeared doubly valuable, not merely on account of the many unusual instances of its extreme brevity, but from a keener sense of its importance. In due time " beauty succeeded to ashes, the oil of joy to mourning, and (by public authority) the garment of praise to the spirit of heaviness.";^ But, my brethren, by the permission of that Al- mighty Being whose knowledge is too wonderful for us, and who doeth as it pleaseth him with the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, the dread pestilence has once more been amongst us ; and numbers of valuable citizens of our country, whom the g Isniah LXI. 3. 10 first visitation had spared,have become tlie cold tenants of that "house appointed for all living."/* Those pe- culiar characteristics which distinguished the disease in 1832, were frightfully conspicuous throughout the mortality of the last summer : Indeed, if we may de- pend upon the late and very imperfect information re- ceived, its fatality would seem to have been greater. It extended itself to many places not visited before; and in several of these the number of deaths was aw- fully great. Public business was generally interrupt- ed. The whole country, from one extremity to the other, was affected by it ; and presented the appear- ance of one bereaved family; for how few are there who among their acquaintance and friends, cannot number at least "one dead."* Such, my brethren, has been the condition of these afflicted Provinces during the summer of the year which is now fast closing upon us. But mercy has again succeeded to justice ; the Almighty has made bare his arm in our defence ; he has drawn as it were a line of circumvallation around us, and we are per- mitted to dwell in safety. How conspicuous in all this is the agency of that Being to whom it particularly appcrtaineth to bring good out of evil ; and who makes circumstances the most untoward in appearance, conduce to the spiritu- al peace and benefit of his creatures! ..■ If then the calamity in which our country has been involved, answer to the description we have attempted to give, proportionably great is the mercy by which we are delivered from it. — Is not the Executive autho- rity, then, abundantly justified in ado{)ting the measure pursued ? and do not the most cogent reasons exist, why we should on this occasion " appear before the Lord with our sacrifice of thanksgiving, and shew forth all his praise*?" ^^ v ^ ,,^ >,. II. — But it will be asked perhaps, what interest have we, the inhabitants of these Townships, in the circum- stances described? The dread disease spread not ' 1 • A Job XXX. 23. i Exodus XII. 30. %% ^ amon^t us, nor were any smitten with tiio spoiler s har«' What ! my brethren, is there no privilege, no mer<;^ in this ! Is exemption from the fatal scourge a thankless blessing ! Nay rather, if those among whom it prevailed are required to express their grati- tude in being freed from its ravages, ten-fold deeper should be the tone of praise emanating from those, who, for great and wise reasons unknown to us, have been shielded from its encroachments. Our situation, indeed, has been in many respects peculiar. An ex- act line of demarkation would seem to have been drawn between the Townships and the pestilence. While, on the one side, it stalked through the land prodigal of human Ufe ; on this side, the inhabitants, in the enjoyment of more that wonted health, were free to secure the advantages of a season as beautiful as it has been abundant. And it exhibits a striking illus- tration of that dictum of the Almighty: "Hitherto shall thou come, but no further : and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.'V . . -: ,. <. . That much of this effect may be ascribed to the in- tervention of natural causes, is unquestionably true. Our comparative seclusion from the broad and more frequented haunts of public life, renders us less subject to the inroads of those diseases which spread by con- tagion. The neighboring mountains too, those beau- tiful natural objects, which, while they generate storms, ditfuse a salubrious atmosphere around us, have a direct and happy tendency to soflen the malig- nity of disease, and to avert those distressing epide- mics so frequently seen to linger in less favorable si- tuations. — But what then ! What though we trace in part our exemption from the late prevailing malady up to these causes ! Our debt of gratitude to God suffers no diminution on this account. Nay, it is positively increased. Who can look abroad with any thing like an enquiring eye, on the country we inha- bit, and not perceive a thousand indications of its being formed by some grand convulsion of nature ; of j Job XXXVIII. 11. this long line of Townships hcing wrested, as it were, from the flood^ which now affi)rds a safe and suitable habitation to man ? What a distinguished chain of providences, then, may we not discern connected with our situation and our safety ! And in how many of us here present, is verified the declaration of the pro- phet, that '^ the Lord leadeth his people by a way that they know not !'7 The circumstance, then, of our being unmolested by the pestilence^ so far from exone- rating us from the great duty of praise, constitutes an imperative abiding claim on our gratitude ; is of itself an irresistible reason why we should occupy the fore- most rank in offering our sacrifice of thajnksgiving. Other considerations also concur to render this obla- tion obligatory on usj to show why we too should res- pond to the note of sacred joy, which is now ascending from every part of the Province. . As forming a portion of this wide country, and no insignificant portion of it either, that we should remain absolutely unaffected while scenes of such fearful im- port were exhibiting around us, were as impossible, as it were unnatural. The public thoroughfare deserted; all unnecessary intercourse with the infected districts broken off; — this while it affected our interest, served at the same time to press continually on the mind the solemn reflection, that, though we ourselves were in the enjoyment of the most distinguished of all earthly blessings, our brethren in the flesh and in the Lord, at no great distance from us, were scathed by a pes- tilence which both " walked in the darkness^ and des- troyed its victims at noon day."i» It is a solemn and affecting truth, that during the visitation of the sum- mer of 1832, without adverting to the mortality which prevailed among our dissenting religious brethren, six hundred resident members of the Episcopal Church of Montreal, were hurried into eternity ! Of the number of those who perished during the season past, we have k Tlicro is reason to supposn that this extensive tract of country was once covered with water ; and that the summits of the many mountains with which it is now decorated, appeared as islands above the surface. I Isaiah XLII. IG. m PsalmXCI. 6. ^^ 13 seen no authentic return. — Can our hearts remain cold and unafR)cted at the bare recital of such a scene ! And elated by that exemption which an in- dulgent Providence has vouchsafed us, have no corres- ponding emotions of sympathy arisen in our breasts for those afflicted ones, who every where, as land- marks, designate the track of the desolating scourge? Looking up to that high and holy One, who has left us an example that we should follow his steps, do we make no attempts to illustrate in our relative demean« or, that divine principle which so transcendently des- tinguished his own ? Nay, have any here so impro- perly learned Jesus, as to imagine that we can truly love God, and not love our brother also ? — ^not feel a spark at least of that divine philanthropy which actu- ated the Saviour when he laid down his life for the sins of the world ? Far otherwise. We trust there are many here to day who cherish sentiments more ac- cordant with the holy reHgion which they profess ; who are not strangers to that heavenly disposition, which forms the very ground-work of the communion of Saints. — Shall we condole, then, with our brethren in affliction, and not in turn feel a measure of their joy } If while suffering the chastisement of God's corrective hand our sympathy for them was excited, surely no less ardent should be the expression of our gratitude when, as now, we behold these sufferings removed ! Surely, if at any time, we can now, adopt with propri- ety the beautiful language of the prophet, and say in behalf of our country ; " O Lord, I will praise thee : though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turn- ed away, and thou comfortedst me.^'n III. — Let us, then, consider the character of that oblation of praise, which, in accordance with the ex- ample of IHivid, it is meet we should offer unto Al- mighty God. For let us not suppose that by merely presenting ourselves here, and yielding that obedience to the civil authority, which, it may be, we pay not to the divine — let us not suppose that this alone will n iMiah XII. 1. _ , 14 constitute that sacrifice of thanksgiving, which is ac- ceptable to God, and which we are called by the cir- cumstances of our country to present. Frustrate not, then, I beseech you, my brethren, through apathy or inattention on your part, that gra- cious purpose which the appointing of this day was in- tended to subserve. To this end, let your spirit of thankfulness bear at leaf^t same proportion to the mag- nitude of the evil from which you have been exempted. Contrasting our own favored circumstances, with those of our less favored brethren in different parts of the Province, blunted must be the understanding and cold the heart, which does not thence derive obliga- tions to warmer nobler praise. If when the destroy- ing angel passed through the land, and thousands were falling before his baneful shade, we, like the favored few of old, dwelt secure under the panoply of the di- vine protection, shall no corresponding sense of grati- tude dilate our hearts with love to Him whose power was exerted in our behalf, and who encompassed us with his favor as with a shield ! My brethren, we hope better things of you. We trust the desire of every individual here is, "to make the voice of his praise be heard." Yea, that every heart responds to the beautiful sentiments of the Psalmist : " I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. For thy loving' kindness will I praise thee. It is a good thing to sing praises unto our God: Yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful." But, my brethren, while our emotions of joy should he fervent let us also bear in mind that they must be devout; that we should have respect to the circum- stances that have elicited them, and that we duly re- gard in these circumstances the mysterious agency of the God of Providence. The thankfulness we express, must be the thankfulness of Christians. Not the re- sult of mere animal feeling, which rises no higher than the creature; but the sacrifice of a heart which sees in every thing connected with the infliction of this awful dispensation and its removal, the finger of that Being who is the christian's strength and stay; 15 and who, in a thousand ways which we cannot fathom, advances the best interests of his creatures by the best means, severe as these means may frequently seem to be. There is no encouragement here for mere carnal joy. It is no profane gitl which we are required this day to oflfer at the altar of our Country. — The storm indeed is hushed ; but mournful monuments of its vio- lence remain. And nature, true to her high origin, would lead us to cherish sympathy for the afflicted, even while engaged in presenting unto the Most High our humble tribute of grateful praise. Let those holy influences which descend from above, mingle with these feelings of the creature, which associate us more particularly with this transitory scene. And then, and not till then, are we duly prepared " to present unto the Lord our offerings in righteousness." o Above all, allow me to observe, in conclusion^ that vain is our oblation of praise, vain our sacrifice of thanksgiving, unless they rise up from the altar of a pure heart, and faith unfeigned. Little will it avail to give utterance with our lips to language, in which the heart takes no share. Such incense, with our breath, but mingles with the atmosphere, and will never rise up in grateful memorial before the Father of our spirits. — In determining, then, your qualifica- tions for discharging that duty your country calls you to perform, apply no rule which falls short of the re- quisitions of the Gospel ; establish no criterion which, you know from his word, will not satisfy the great Searcher of hearts. If, then, you are duly thankful that the pestilence has been removed, that the Almighty once more con- descends to bind up the wounds his Providence has made, — see that you pursue not those courses, indulge not in those sins, which, we may safely infer, have not been without their effect in drawing that judgment down. Evince your gratitude to God for your own remarkable preservation, by an increased attention to his conmiands. Let the favor you have already re- o Malachi III. 3. r""'"' / \ 16 ceived at the hand of the Most High, act as a spur to quicken your diligence in the subjugation of every be- setting sm, and the attainment of every spiritual good. Thu8,8hould the judgments of the Lord again go abroad in the land, may you trust to the intervention of that arm, v^hich has hitherto been extended as a shield in your defence. And thus will you experience that confidence in affliction, which the christian only can know ; a confidence arising fi*om the reflection, that, whatever betide, *^the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.'^j» t Psalm XLVII. 7. r- FINIS. A. BOWMAN, PRINTER, MONTREAL. k a spur to 3very be- ual good. ;o abroad m of that shield in mce that only can ion, that, ith us, the