I DAMON A Sermon. REV. DAVID DAMON'S ELECTION SERMON 1841. SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE HIS EXCELLENCY MARCUS MORTON, GOVERNOR, HIS HONOR GEORGE HULL, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, AND THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, AT THE ANNUAL ELECTION, JANUARY 6, 1841. BY DAVID DAMON, 'i Pastor of the Congregational Church in West Cambridge. Boston: DUTTOH AND WENTWORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 1841. * \ (TommontocaltJ) of ftfassacjmsetts. IN SENATE, JAK. 8, 1841 Ordered, That Messrs. RICHARDSON and LAWRENCE be a Committee to wait on tho RET. I)* VID DAMON, and present him the thanks of the Senate Tor his Sermon delivered before the Government of the Commonwealth on Wednesday, and request a copy thereof for the press. Attest : CHARLES CALHOUN, Clerk. SERMON. Galalians, v. 13. FOR, BRETHREN, YE HAVE BEEN CALLED TJNTO LIBERTY ; ONLY USE NOT LIBERTY FOR AN OCCASION TO THE FLESH, BUT BY LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER. THE returns of such anniversaries as this are proud days to Americans. There comes up hither the sovereignty, not of king, courtiers and lords, not of titled nobility and hereditary aristocracy, nor of any aristocracy, not the sovereignty invested in, or usurped by, a few ; but the sovereignty of the whole people, manifested in their assembled representatives, who are both of themselves and chosen by them- selves. We feel that our government is not an arbi- trary imposition to be evaded when it can be, to be borne as a heavy burden when it cannot be evaded, and to be dreaded and hated always ; but, on the contrary, a combination of privileges, a guarantee of inalienable right, an instrument of promoting the well-being and progress of man, both in his individ- ual and social capacity. We feel it not as govern- ment, in the prescriptive acceptation of that term, except when we do what conscience and religion, as well as law and constitution, testify is wrong ; or when, on the other hand, we are kept by it from some threatened injury, or redressed if the injury has been actually inflicted. We feel that we are, indeed, called to liberty, political, social and religious, that we have equality as well as liberty equality of right, equality of liberty, and social equality also ; or if not precise social equality, as rapid and near an approximation to it, as is consistent with obtaining it finally, and keeping it when obtained. We look back also to the small period of time, (very small, as compared with the age of the world and the tardy growth of other nations,) in which, from a few small and scattered bands of voluntary exiles, we have become a great people, ourselves, many of us, the descendants of those brave, adven- turous, liberty-loving, God-fearing men. Still more of us are the immediate descendants of others, who sealed with their blood, in the villages we inhabit and on the heights with which we are immediately surrounded, our political independence ; and, in so doing, gave an impulse to our growth and prosperity as a people, which, even with their expanded and aspiring views, they as little dreamed of, as Colum- bus did of the vast extent of this new world, when he first discovered it. Reasoning from the past and present to the future, we scarcely know how to place bounds to our anticipations of increase, in numbers, and wealth, and power, and glory among the nations. Have not the older part of us seen, in very little more than half a century, a small portion of the great western wilderness become the third state in the Union, with a population of nearly two millions ? What then may not the child which is born to-day live to see, even beyond our fondest and most extrav- gant imaginings ? With such recollections and an- ticipations concerning our commonwealth and coun- try as we must have sometimes, and assembling, as we do, on these anniversaries, in the city where American independence was born and its cradle rocked, it must be more or less than human nature, which can still every stirring of pride within the breast, and feel only as dependent and sinful beings should feel in the presence of the Ruler and Judge of all the earth. But full scope has been given, even on occasions as solemn as this, to the boastful reminiscences and lofty anticipations, to which I have referred. Our literature, our national manners even, are infected with this over-weening spirit concerning what we are and what we are about to be as if we deserved it all, and it all must come to us of course, because, forsooth, we are the only true republicans and true liberty men on the face of the earth as if, the bat- tles of independence being fought and won, and our national and state constitutions being framed and put on parchment, the fame of the former and some in- trinsic magic force in the latter must needs keep safe both us and our liberties. While our numbers and wealth are increasing and extending themselves over the length and breadth of a vast continent, we rest assured that all is safe and on the march towards perfection, which our fathers achieved and gained ; forgetting that it was not by numbers nor by wealth that they did so, for they were both few and poor, but by union, by patriotism, by self-sacrifice, and by a deep-felt religious trust in the living God, who up- holds the right and condemns the wrong. Well would it become us, then, on these occasions, to look to our duties and our dangers, and not wholly to our past achievements and our hopes, perhaps de- lusive hopes, of future greatness and this is what I purpose to do at the present time. A consideration of our duties involves all which need be said of our dangers'. I shall, therefore, speak, in form, only to the first named topic, our duties, the duties of the free inhabitants of a free state called to liberty, every kind of liberty which a man need have, or can have consistently with his own good, every kind of liberty, except the liberty to do wrong and trample upon the rights and happi- ness of others. 1 . The first duty to be mentioned, that which vir- tually includes all the rest, is expressed in the text itself. " Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." I do not sup- pose the Apostle had direct reference to any other than religious liberty. But Christianity includes and tends to produce all the liberty which man should claim or can enjoy. It is conceded that not a word is expressly said, in the New Testament, concerning civil or political freedom not a word concerning the duty or the lawfulness of rebelling against tyrants and overturning despotisms, and establishing upon their ruins governments which should acknowledge and guarantee equal rights to the mass of the peo- ple. On the contrary, the Saviour even gives direc- tions " to render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." But it is none the less certain that Chris- tianity was intended as well as adapted to work its way gradually and noiselessly into human govern- 2 10 ments and modify and change their influences, by first enlightening the minds and renovating the hearts of individuals ; till the leaven of true liberty should pervade the whole mass of human society and com- prehend all the relations of man to man. It is none the less certain, that in proportion as the true spirit of Christianity prevails, true liberty prevails also that true Christianity is true democracy, though pro- fessed democracy may often be far enough from true Christianity and that the sentiment that man equals and measures man the world over, is as much at the foundation of Christianity as if it had been expres- sed in the very words by the author of Christianity himself. I pervert not, then, but only follow out the true application of the text, when I say to the free peo- ple of this free country " Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one an- other." Use not liberty for any malignant, impure or merely selfish purpose ; but, on the contrary, serve one another. Serve the individual, because he needs it ; and the whole community, when you can, be- cause the wants of the community are the aggregate of the wants of the individuals in the community. Serve both, because your service, by God's appoint- ment, is their due. Serve them, not because in so 11 doing you can perhaps serve yourself more, but by love serve them, that is, from a principle of benevo- lence, as the Son of God became a self-sacrifice that he might save mankind. " Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." " As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." It is this duty of service and benevolence, mutual service prompted by mutual love, and aiming at the well-being of each and of all, which should be first and principally felt as binding upon every heart, and be carried out in the actions of the life of every one in a free community. It is nothing short of this fun- damental principle of our religion, pervading the hearts of the mass of our people which can give to our republican liberty, that stability and that steady progress towards entire perfection which we all pro- fess to covet. There must be Christian light and love. It is not such liberty as the ancient republics had, it is not the liberty of Greeks or Romans, which we want or will deign to accept. We must continue to have more and better. It is the liberty, the broad basis of which is furnished by Christianity in its in- terior and vital influences, which we must have or have none. How important, then, that the whole community, 12 and every individual in particular who aspires to any place of trust or influence in the community, should be moved by the spirit and governed by the precepts of the religion which we believe we have received from Heaven how important to the well-being of society, the conservation of true liberty, the progress of social enjoyment, refinement and elevation, as well as to the salvation of the individual soul. How indelibly the sentiment should be inwrought in the hearts of all who are deputed to aid in making or executing the laws in a free country, that they should pursue the labor assigned to them, determined to do their duty, to take care of the real interests of their constituents, and serve their whole country, without respect to party claims or dictation, and especially without respect to the question of their own re-elec- tion. That is a question which it belongs wholly to their constituents to decide ; an affair in which they have no business to intermeddle, unless in necessary self-defence of character. What said the great teacher in relation to the sub- ject now before us ? " Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant : even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom 13 for many." Was this said solely for the direction of those to whom it was originally spoken, and restrict- ed to their action in the capacity of evangelists ? Is it to be applied only to the concerns of religion in the restricted and technical sense in which that Heavenly but much abused word is now often used ? Or did the Saviour so intend and so speak it, that it might be applied by all his followers in all the rela- tions and conduct of life ? Evidently this which is last named. He speaks, in few words, in the pas- sage quoted, his ideal of greatness in contradistinc- tion to that which had prevailed and did still prevail, among both Jews and Gentiles. Would to God it did not prevail even now, and among those who are professedly Christian ! With the Saviour, goodness was pre-eminently greatness ; and he was esteemed excellent and chief, who served much, loved much, and least thought of self or the recompense due to self. We should thank God, with unfeigned gratitude and humility, that we are not wholly without exam- ple of action from this principle, and example of greatness of this stamp. There is, at least, one ex- ample of it which so stands out from all others, that no eye which looks towards it can fail to see it the example of the man who was solemnly pronounc- 14 ed, at the time of his exit, and in the nation's senate chamber, to be, " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," and upon whom the perhaps still higher eulogium has been past, " that he changed mankind's ideas of political great- ness." What would his success in arms, and his great talents as a statesman have availed us, at this day, without his moral uprightness, his political in- tegrity, his fear of God, his love of man, his disposi- tion to sacrifice his own inclinations and ease for others' safety, and his lofty, unrivalled, disinter- ested patriotism ? Still might he have been the brave and successful general, the chief whose behests all should hasten to obey, during his life time ; but it was because he had a mind which bowed in reve- rence to the Supreme Power above, and swerved not from truth and justice, and a heart large enough to embrace his whole country, and all its unborn millions it was for this, that the epithet of " Father of his Country" has been given to him, for a perpet- ual memorial, by an admiring and grateful people. How is it then, that, while we all consent to do him homage as the brightest star which shines in our hemisphere of past glory, we are rather dazzled by its brilliancy than guided by its safe and sure light, in the discharge of those indispensable and paramount 15 duties which we owe alike to ourselves, our fellow countrymen, and our God ? Let every man, both in private and public life, raise up and steadily fol- low the Christian standard of truth and right, duty and benevolence, and the republic is safe, our liberty is safe ; but let unbelief, irreligion, party spirit, sor- did selfishness, supreme desire of individual self-ag- grandizement, the uncontrolled lust for wealth, power, display and luxury let these predominate, and the faster we increase in numbers and wealth, the wider and deeper will yawn the grave of our liberty, and the faster we shall hasten to take our place, upon the page of the historian, with the free states which have flourished for a season, but had not wisdom and virtue enough to render their exist- ence and prosperity permanent. But I recal to mind that, on an occasion like this, something more specific may be reasonably expected than the broad and general, though vital, essential and all comprehending duty upon which I have dwelt. This great duty is incumbent upon Chris- tian freemen at all times; but may there not be some particular duties demanded by the circum- stances of the present times and the present posture of our public affairs, and growing out of, or at least compatible with the great duty and principles already inculcated ? 16 2. In following out the suggestion now made, I would next urge what I cannot help viewing as one of the most important of the political as well as moral duties which claim our practical regard at the present time, namely, a firm, unyielding, and even jealous conservatism. I have here ventured to introduce a term so recently come into common use among us, that it may not yet have acquired an entirely fixed and definite mean- ing in grave discourse. As I would not wilfully offend any of the numerous classes of reformers of which the age and country may boast, nor seem to renounce my claim to a philanthropy as enlarged, and a faith in the future as fixed and ardent as their own, I will define the signification of the term as I understand it, and wish to be understood in the use of it. By conservatism, I understand protection from corrup- tion, diminution, injury, and needless exposure to danger ; the system, whether in morals or politics, or any thing else, which will not hazard present certain and great good for future and very uncertain good, which may, by possibility, be greater ; in a word, a universal holding fast of the good that is. If this is the correct use of the term, it is not necessarily nor naturally opposed to reform and progress, but to radicalism, ultraism, ill-advised experiment, and need- 17 less revolution not to strait forward, but to retro- grade, circular and transverse movements. I protest against that application of the term, in this free country, which holds up conservatives in the light of a stationary or retrograde party, and fixed withal against all attempts at improvement. There is no stationary party in this country. There may possi- bly be individual men who hate improvement, merely because they cannot tolerate change, even when necessary. But these are not true conservatives. Let some other name be found or invented to desig- nate them. The terms conservative and conserva- tism, honorably derived, claim a more honorable application. Real reformers are also faithful and uncompromising conservatives. Innovators, who at- tempt, but never accomplish any thing lastingly beneficial to mankind, belong to a different category. They are neither conservatives nor reformers, in the true signification of the terms. I know it may be said that since those who are not with the friends of any particular measure of improvement or reform, are virtually against them, it will happen in the actual course of human affairs, that the mass of conservatives will often be found arranged with those who are stationary, and even with those who are opposed to progress. This 3 18 may be ; , but not more frequently, I apprehend, especially in free countries, than is required by the economy of Divine Providence in order that the improvement or progress made shall be sure and stable. It is not my duty, nor any one's duty, to join in the ranks and cry Hosannah, with every com- pany who are professedly marching onwards to vic- tory in a cause which I acknowledge to be good and holy. Before I unhesitatingly give them my aid and influence, I ought to have reasonable evidence that the weapons of warfare which they intend to use are not carnal, that their own spirit, and especially that of their acknowledged leaders, as well as their pro- fessed aim, is good, and that there is some wisdom in their heads as well as good intentions in their hearts. Hence at least some of the reluctance which exists on the part of men good and true, as ever good and holy cause numbered among its advocates, to be drilled in the ranks and obey orders in some of our organized bodies of reformers. But in the time of real need, when something which is valuable is in imminent danger of being lost, or when some certain good may be attained by immediate action, then it is that the unorganized body of conservatives will come forward and act with decided and happy efficiency. It is to these men that the State must 19 always look in times of great need and peril, and most commonly when any great and certain good is to be achieved also ; and these are the men likewise, who save what can be saved, from the wrecks which rash and ill-advised experimenters make. But say the reformers and innovators, " there will always be conservatism enough without a word said in its favor. Men naturally decline into it and keep in it. It consorts with our natural love of ease and indolence, and our dislike of labor and danger. It is the spirit of reform and progress which is wanted now and always ; and to which men are to be wrought up only with great difficulty." This objec- tion arises from a one-sided view of human nature. Men are indolent, it is said, and naturally love then- ease, and so it is. This is one element in human nature. But many men love activity more than ease, and even danger, so it be not insuperable. This is another element of human nature. In most men they predominate alternately. But turmoil and dan- ger seem to constitute the very aliment which keeps some persons alive. Let all be peace and quietness and orderly progress, and they would starve. There is also an implication, false in fact, in the alleged objection. It is implied that it always requires less activity and courage to keep and defend, than to 20 gain. But it is notorious that to keep and defend, sometimes requires equal courage and activity, and frequently the more wisdom. Besides, it is with the spirit of professed reform and reckless innovation, just as it is with political party spirit. It is wont to rage most where it is least needed, least useful and most pernicious, that is, in free countries during or after the continuance of prosperous times. It is when men wax fat, and have abundant means and abundant leisure, that they begin to rise up against the ordinances of Heaven and the peace and quietness of earth. They cannot then rest satisfied with feasible measures of good. They must have something better, else all the good they have or might have, availeth them nothing. The righteous discon- tents of the old world are bruited across the waters of the Atlantic; and nothing will do but echo must answer from this side " Our condition is as bad as yours, and in some respects worse." It is not con- sidered that the mass of the people, in many parts of the old world, have little to lose and much to gain by revolution and change, w T hile the mass of the peo-r pie here have almost every thing to lose, and scarcely any thing which they can reasonably hope to gain, except by those gradual and quiet, but unceasing processes, which comport with our liberty, our laws, 21 the growth of our country, and our general progress in knowledge and virtue. If this difference between the condition of the inhabitants of this country and those of the old world, and between their govern- ments and ours, were understood and duly weighed, there might be little occasion to dwell upon the pres- ent topic of discourse. But what would our political, social, and many of our moral and religious reformers, or those professing to be such, have, which both they and all have not already ? " Equal distribution of property, or the nearest possible approach to it, by legislative enact- ment, or otherwise perfect social equality, come what may, I suppose, of social elevation and im- provement no organized churches no Sabbath no clergy no marriages for life, but connexions in- stead, to last as long as the parties can agree, and, finally, no government at all." These are some of the contradictory cries already raised. What may we expect to hear next ? " No Bible, no Saviour, no future state, down with antiquated superstition, and religion, which is but superstition mis-named, and up with the goddess, reason ;" and could one dread and all hallowed name be reverently pronounc- ed in such connexion, one more and final cry might be added, and all is then plunged in total darkness and exclusion of hope. Is there no occasion for a conservative spirit, and that the jealousy of that spirit should be roused, in view of these political and moral eccentricities and enormities ? " Equal distribution of property, or at least the nearest practicable approximation to it." How? The particular manner does not seem to be agreed upon. One method suggested is substantially this : that is, as it appears to the dull optics of a conservative. Transfer, by law, the gold in the coffers of the rich defunct into the light pockets of the living spend- thrift, and the pockets of those who will probably be made spendthrifts by depending upon state distribu- tion, and waiting for the death of rich men, instead of depending upon the Almighty, and diligently working with their own heads and hands. This would be double injustice ; and, in its remote effects, probably a greater injury to the community than to the heirs of the rich. But I need not dwell upon this project. It is utterly impracticable. No despot- ism, though with laws as numerous and minute as the Chinese, and with officers, spies and informers, twice as numerous as imperial despot ever maintain- ed, could carry it into effect. It is repugnant to hu- man nature. The project of a community of goods is far more feasible. " No government," that is, " no human govern- ment. Human governments are usurpations. The only real and legitimate government is the just gov- ernment of God." And is not every government, so far as it frames righteous laws, and righteously exe- cutes them, a government by divine right and ordinance, according to Scripture and sound philoso- phy also ? How shall society as such be regulated without government? Is not regulation, govern- ment ? Why, in the absence of the instincts, which regulate the society of other tribes of earth, is wis- dom given to man, adequate not only for self-disci- pline but for the regulation of society, that is, for the institution of government, if every one's wisdom is to terminate in his solitary individual action ? I know it is denied that man has this wisdom ; but, almost in the same breath, the greater wisdom is in- consistently claimed for him of being able tg live comfortably in society without government. I con- cede that society is not for the sake of furnishing occasion for the institution of government ; but gov- ernment is for the sake of benefiting society. Did it never occur to the no-government dreamer, that if society were so far advanced that it should no longer need to resort to the aid of force, in any instance, it would still, in its onward and upward course, need laws, rules, regulations, and even mild penalties, (perhaps in the shape of forfeitures,) that is, need government? When government does not answer the purpose of benefiting society, let it be altered, improved, or changed altogether, but abolish it per- manently you cannot. Society is indeed before government in the order of nature ; but there is no proof that either did or can precede the other in the order of time. So soon as society begins, the whole people must make rules for its regulation, or the strongest will take the business into their own hands ; O ' and arbitrary power, sometimes aided, and sometimes perhaps checked by traditionary custom, sway the people, till the people institute a government and make laws for themselves. The strong despot, or blind, traditionary, and often tyrannical custom, or law and constitution, must rule. We must make choice of one of these three. There is no further power of choosing given to man in this present world. " No clergy ! " To this I will only say, in the lan- guage of a very ancient book " Would to God all the Lord's servants were prophets ! " Would to God the moral, spiritual and intellectual state of the world were such that every man might be his own prophet, priest and ruler ; and nothing more be needed in the premises. Would to God the universal heart of hu- manity always beat right, and then surely nothing on earth would go wrong. But what are the facts in the case, as we look along the channel through which the tide of past events has flowed, taking the world and things and mankind, as they have been and are ? Will any man, at all competent to pronounce sen- tence, lay his hand upon his heart and say, that any class of men, in this country, of equal numbers only, have done more in promoting universal education, the morals and happiness of the community, and last, not least, the liberty we so highly prize and dearly love, than these fore-doomed clergy, who, after all, claim to be only ministers ? I will say nothing, in this connexion, of the effects of their higher spiritual functions. But I will not pursue such details. Of course, I shall not be understood as condemning all, in con- demning some. Other classes of reformers there are, whose objects are unspeakably desirable, if they had the means and opportunity to reach them. God grant to such wisdom equal to their zeal, that we may still hope concerning them, that they may be the occasion, if not the cause, of the good wished for and longed after. Neither do I doubt at all, that, while there is so much of the spirit of innovation openly rife and ac- 4 26 tive in the community, there is still more of conser- vatism in it, though much of the latter exists, at the present time, in a latent and inactive state. The sentiments of the great mass of the people of this union, of both the great political parties into which we are divided, are undoubtedly conservative. There is an approach at least to a just estimate of the value of our independence and liberty, our national and state constitutions and laws, and the perpetuity of our national confederation and union. This may be inferred from our whole history during and since the war of independence ; and, in particular, from the discrimination and caution with which the attempts, whether successful or unsuccessful, to amend our constitutions, have been met and handled. May we not venture to put down, as another evidence in the case, the general reprehension of the mobs and riots, which threatened and disgraced us so much, some few years ago, and their manifest diminution, within the last two years or more ?. Certainly we may the harmlessness with which the last prodigiously con- tested election passed off; and the peaceableness and kindly humour which have since prevailed all over the country. In what other country, could such gatherings and processions and such political party enthusiasm prevail so universally and so long, and 27 yet all end peaceably and without bloodshed at the ballot-box ? All this is encouraging to the patriot and philanthropist, and to all who are determined never to give up faith, hope and trust in man and in man's destiny. Nor have we the least reason to fear that the dreams of our radical innovators can be permanently realized. Yet when we perceive so many contrary breezes every where ruffling the surface of society, and sometimes feel the upheaving of a ground swell, whose possible force we cannot calculate when we see how many individuals are deluded and agitated, their peace and usefulness utterly destroyed, and how from being agitated themselves they have become agitators when we consider the tendency of these things to that temporary anarchy, in which our lib- erty may find its termination, and an iron despotism its time of commencement when we see so many organizations here and there, under various names and pretences, imbodying so much individual deter- mination not to be easy while law and order, religion and morality, have their course, while each man is protected in his own possessions and his own home, or while any thing which savours of antiquity or set- tled and known rule, has being or remembrance left on earth when we perceive all this, I would very 28 seriously ask if it be not time to rouse up the con- servative spirit so extensively lodged in the breasts of our citizens, that they may hold fast, and teach and warn their children to hold fast, that which is good the good which cost our fathers so much time and treasure, thought and effort, self sacrifice and blood ; and which, in the aggregate, has proved the source of so much safety and felicity to us, their posterity. 3. Permit me, in approaching to a conclusion, to urge briefly, upon the consideration of all, and especially men of ability and influence, the duty of united and persevering endeavours to assuage the violence and diminish the prevalence of political party spirit. Taught by experience, we may well apprehend that the calm after the tempest, or between its gusts, will prove, in the political as in the natural atmosphere, of short duration. Yet I cannot believe in the neces- sity or the utility of parties and party spirit in a free state. I admit, (such is human nature,} that they will exist, especially in free countries. That their existence and action may occasionally effect some good, I admit also. But I contend that the same good, and more, might be effected, if we could bring to the conduct of public affairs less of party action and more of the honest and able men who belong to all parties, and some of them perhaps to no party 29 except their country. Whatever we may read, in certain publications, on either side, the party has not yet arisen, in this republic, which has engrossed, for the time being, all the honesty, capability and patri- otism in it. In my solemn conviction, the party has not yet existed which has in reality possessed much more than half of all there is of these qualities in the land. I contend also that where political party spirit is wont to prevail with the least restraint, precisely there it is least useful and most pernicious, to wit in free states. When has this country been more pros- perous and happy, or its public affairs better managed, than during those brief intermissions, in which a national spirit has, for the time being, taken the place of party spirit ; and spreading over the whole land, like the return of the balmy south western breeze after months of rigorous winter, has brought hope and gladness to every heart. The former part of President Munroe's administration was such a season. And what was it which cut short the happy time, and conjured up the demon of party spirit again, to lay waste and destroy the peace of families and neighborhoods, throughout the length and breadth of the country ? It was, in the main, differing pre- possessions, not for measures, but for men, with cor- 30 responding desires and expectations of lucrative places under those who should be elected to fill the highest offices in the gift of the people. Here, I suspect, the people, if they look diligently, will find the origin of the political parties which have so recently convulsed the country, whatever may be the pretences of a legitimate descent from the old fed- eralists and republicans of the days of Washington and the elder Adams. In the name then of all the lovers of a quiet and peaceable life, who, I well know, have suffered more within these few years, than I will tell or can tell to- day, I ask the conflicting political parties, if they cannot be exorcised of the evil spirit which has pos- sessed them, to give us at least a respite, a truce, another suspension of this unholy warfare among brethren, that we may breathe freely once more, and dare to speak as we think, without first working our- selves up to the martyr pitch and spirit. I ask them, if they cannot, (as Christians are directed to do,) love as brethren and esteem others better than them- selves, at least to remember that others have the feelings of men, and equal rights with themselves, and to forbear the mutual denunciation and reviling which have excited alternately the astonishment and the contempt of inquisitive and disinterested foreign- 31 ers. And when may we hope, (for several obvious reasons,) for a more favorable time to bury deep the hatchet of party strife, than the present time ? I am well aware that the views which I have ex- hibited concerning the evils and the comparative uselessness of parties, in a free country, will appear to many to savor more of the cell of the cloistered monk than the wisdom of a man of the world. I will, therefore, dismiss the topic with a brief support of the views presented, from a treatise, which, though it should be found wherever there is a Bible and an almanac, I have reasons for apprehending is becom- ing somewhat scarce in dwellings otherwise well fur- nished. " The father of his country," in his valedic- tory address to the people, after stating his sense of the imminent danger of " parties founded upon geo- graphical discriminations," proceeds to speak of " the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally." He says, " It exists under different shapes in all govern- ments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy " that " the alternate domination of one faction over another is itself a frightful despotism ; but leads to a more formal and permanent despotism " and finally concludes the topic, as follows : " There is 32 an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true ; and, in gov- ernments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is cer- tain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose ; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands uniform vigilance to prevent it from bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming it should consume." Whatever I have ad- vanced upon this topic which goes aside from the sentiments I have here quoted, or reaches beyond them, that charge to the ignorance, the timidity, or the craft of the priest, or to what you please ; but let the rest be pondered, as if Washington, the great and good, were alive, and uttered it with his own mouth this day. I will conclude this protracted discussion in the prescribed form. His Excellency the Governor, His Honor the 33 Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Council and Senate, and the assembled Representatives of the people, will be pleased to accept the respectful salu- tations demanded by the occasion. Your Excellency, still enjoying the high considera- tion and receiving the undiminished support of your political friends, will be followed to your retirement by the respectful regards and sincere good wishes of all good citizens of all parties ; for it is not for a moment to be supposed that political preferences will extinguish in the breast of any good and wise citi- zen a sense of the honor which is due to private worth, unblemished reputation in the private walks of life, long and approved service on the bench of justice in the highest court in the Commonwealth, and, finally, of the still higher honor which is due to him, who has been called by his fellow citizens to the chair of state, and whose name has been conse- quently enrolled in its archives with those of Han- cock, Bowdoin and Adams, and their illustrious suc- ce ssors. With equal sincerity we may and should, and I trust, do extend both to your excellency and your designated successor, (who is also numbered with your approved and honored predecessors,) our res- pect, our sympathy, and our earnest prayers, that 5 34 continued happiness, usefulness and honor may at- tend you both to the end of life, whether in public or in private stations ; and that both of you may at last bequeath to the citizens of the Commonwealth over which you have presided, a memory which they shall long delight to cherish with respect and grati- tude. Now, gentlemen, both of the legislative and exe- cutive departments of the State, we pray that God may be with you, and we bid you God speed. Serve your constituents, serve the Commonwealth, serve our common country serve them in love seek no earthly reward for so doing do what you can to conserve the union, the liberty, the constitution, the prosperity and the progress of our country, and the ancient civic faith, purity and glory of this Com- monwealth, and you shall find and receive your recompense, now, at this present time, in the peace and satisfaction of your own breasts, and, here- after in the higher recompenses which are to be be- stowed upon the good and faithful servant, whether he has been faithful over a few things, or over many things. AMEN. HERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIUTy A 000 986 091 7 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482